No  /j 


^O 


Y^ll 


'OM^- 


^' 


¥ 


M^' 


^Ai 


^^^^^. 


M 


t'^ 


ii^^'*!- 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Arcinive 

in  2008  with  funding  from 

IVIicrosoft  Corporation 


http://www.archive.org/details/alongalasl<asgreaOOschw 


ALONG 

ALASKA'S  Great  Rivizk 


A  POPULAR  ACCOUNT  OF  THE  TRAVELS  OF  AN  ALA.SKA 
EXPLORING    EXPEDITION    ALONG    THE    GREAT 
YUKON  RIVER,  FROM  ITS  SOURCE  TO  ITS 
MOUTH,  IN  THE   BRITISH  NORTH- 
WEST TERRITORY,  AND  IN 
THE  TERRITORY  OF 
ALASKA. 


BY 

FREDERICK  ^HWATKA, 

LAURENTE   OF   THE   PARIS   GEOGRAPHICAL,  SOCIETY  AND  OK  THE  IMPE 
RIAI,  GEOGRAPHICAL,  SOCIETY  OF  RUSSIA;  HONORARY  MEMBER 
BREMEN  GEOGRAPHICAL  SOCIETY,  ETC..  ETC.,  COM- 
MANDER  OF   THE   EXPEDITION. 


^  Together  with  the  Latest  Information  on  the 
Klondike  Country. 


FULL  Y  ILL  USTRA  TED. 


chicago    new  york 
George  M.  Hill  Company 

MDCCCC 


Copyright,  1898, 
Geo.  M.  Hill  Co. 


PREFACE. 


rpHESE  pages  narrate  the  travels,  in  a  popular  sense,  of 
an  Alaskan  exploring  expedition.  The  expedition  was 
organized  with  seven  members  at  Vancouver  Barracks, 
Washington,  and  left  Portland,  Oregon,  ascending  through 
the  inland  passage  to  Alaska,  as  far  as  the  Chilkat  country. 
At  that  point  the  party  employed  over  three  score  of  the 
Chilkat  Indians,  the  hardy  inhabitants  of  that  ice-bound 
country,  to  pack  its  effects  across  the  glacier-clad  pass  of  the 
Alaskan  coast  range  of  mountains  to  the  head-waters  of  the 
Yukon.  Here  a  large  raft  was  constructed,  and  on  this  primi- 
tive craft,  sailing  through  nearly  a  hundred  and  fifty  miles 
of  lakes,  and  shooting  a  number  of  rapids,  the  party  floated 
along  the  great  stream  for  over  thirteen  hundred  miles;  the 
longest  raft  journey  ever  made  on  behalf  of  geographical 
science.  The  entire  river,  over  two  thousand  miles,  was 
traversed,  the  party  returning  home  by  Bering  Sea,  and 
touching  the  Aleutian  Islands. 

The  opening  up  of  the  great  gold  fields  in  the  region  of 
the  upper  Yukon,  has  added  especial  interest  to  everything 
pertaining  to  the  great  Northwest.  The  Klondike  region  is 
the  cynosure  of  the  eyes  of  all,  whether  they  be  in  the  clutches 
of  the  gold  fever  or  not.  The  geography,  the  climate,  the 
scenery,  the  birds,  beasts,  and  even  flowers  of  the  country 
make  fascinating  subjects.     In  view  of  the  new  discoveries 


PREFACE.  » 

in  that  part  of  the  world,  a  new  chapter,  Chapter  XIII,  is 
given  up  to  a  detailed  description  of  the  Klondike  region. 
The  numerous  routes  by  which  it  may  be  reached  are 
described,  and  all  the  details  as  to  the  possibilities  and 
resources  of  the  country  are  authoritatively  stated. 

Chicago,  March,  1898. 


CONTENTS. 


Chapter.  Page. 

I.    Inteoductoey 9 

II,  The  Inland  Passage  to  Alaska    ...         12 

III.  In  The  Chilkat  Countey         .        .        .         .36 

IV.  Ovee  The  Mountain  Pass     ....         53 
V.   Along  the  Lakes 90 

VI.  A  Chaptee  About  Rafting  „         .         .         .131 

VII.  The  Geand  Canon  of  The  Yukon     .         .         .  154 

VIII.  Down  The  Rivee  to  Selkiek        .         .         .       175 

IX.  Theough  The  Uppee  Rampaets        .         .         .  207 

X.  Theough  The  Yukon  Flat-Lands         .         .       264 

XI.  Theough  The  Lowee  Rampaets  and  End  of 

Raft  Joueney 289 

XII.  Down  The  Rivee  and  Home          .        .         .       313 

XIII.  The  Klondike  Regions 346 

XIV.  Discoveey  and  Histoey        ....       368 
XV.  The  People  and  Theie  Industeies  .         .         .  386 

XVI.  Geogeaphical  Featuees       ....       413 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS. 


Paoe 

Frontispiece  (dkawn  by  Wm.  Schmedtgen)       .... 

The  Inland  Passage       .........     12 

Scenes  in  the  Inland  Passage  .         .         .         .         .         .         .         19 

Sitka,  Alaska 29 

Chilkat  Bracelet      .........  36 

Pyramid  Harbor,  Chilkat  Inlet 43 

Chilkat  Indian  Packer     ........         53 

Methods  of  Tracking  a  Canoe  up  a  Rapid 64 

Canoeing  up  the  Dayay 65 

Dayay  Valley,  Nourse  River 73 

Salmon  Spears  .........         76 

Dayay  Valley,  from  Camp  4  .         .         .         .         .         .         .77 

Walking  a  Log 80 

Chasing  a  Mountain  Goat     ........     82 

Ascending  the  Perrier  Pass 85 

Snow  Shoes    ...........     87 

In  a  Storm  on  the  Lakes     .......    90 

Lake  Lindeman   ..........  93 

Lake  Bennett  ..........   101 

Pins  for  Fastening  Marmot  Snares 112 

Lake  Bove    .    .    .    .    ,    .    .    .    .    .116 
Lake  Marsh  ...........  121 

"Stick"  Indians .       127 

"  Snubbing  "  THE  Rapt  .........  131 

Among  THE  "  Sweepers  "    ........       134 

Banks  of  the  Yukon      .........  135 

Scraping  Along  a  Bank     .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .140 

Prying  the  Raft  off  a  Bar  .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .145 

Course  of  Raft  and  Axis  of  Stream         .....       152 

Whirlpool  at  Lower  End  of  Island    .         .         .         .         .         .153 

Grayling   ...........       154 

Grand  Canon  ..........  163 

The  Cascades     ..........       169 

Alaska  Brown  Bear  Fighting  Mosquitos     .         .         .         .         .174 

In  the  Rink  Rapids  .........       175 

Clay  Bluffs  on  the  Yukon  .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .176 

Outlet  of  Lake  Kluktassi        .         .         .         .         .         .         .184 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS. 

Page 

The  Eink  Bapids 191 

LORING  BliUFF .        193 

Kit'l-ah-gon  Indian  Village 197 

Ingeesoll  Islands     .         . 201 

The  Ruins  of  Selkiek 205 

In  the  Upper  Ramparts 207 

Mouth  of  Pelly  River 209 

Looking  Up  Yukon  from  Selkirk 213 

Ayan  Grave  at  Selkirk 217 

Ayan  Indians  in  Canoes 221 

Ayan  and  Chilkat  Gambling  Tools       ......  227 

Plan  of  Ayan  Summer  House    .......       229 

Konit'l  Ayan  Chief 230 

Ayan  Moose  Arrow 231 

Ayan  Winter  Tent 233 

A  Gravel  Bank 236 

Moose-Skin  Mountain 243 

Roquette  Rock 250 

Klat-ol-klin  Village  .........  253 

Fishing  Nets 258 

Salmon  Killing  Club 259 

Boundary  Butte        .........       261 

A  Moose  Head 264 

Moss  on  Yukon  River        . 267 

Steamer  "  Yukon  ".........  276 

Indian  "  Cache  " 289 

Lower  Ramparts  Rapids        .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .  295 

Mouth  of  Tanana 303 

nuklakayet  ...........  307 

The  Raft,  at  End  op  its  Journey     ......       312 

Indian  Out-Door  Gun  Covering 313 

Falling  Banks  of  Yukon 319 

Anvik 330 

Oonalaska  ..........       344 

The  Klondike  Gold  Discoveries  ......  348 

At  the  Foot  of  Chilkoot  Pass  ......       350 

The  Descent  of  Chilkoot  Pass 354 

A  Midday  Meal 358 

At  the  Head  of  Lake  La  Barge  .......  360 

Indlvn  Packers  Fording  a  River       ......       364 

The  White  Horse  Rapids 366 


ALONG  ALASKA'S  GREAT  RIVER. 


CHAPTER  I. 

INTRODUCTORY. 

HIS  Alaskan  exploring  expedition  was  coni- 
posed  of  the  following  members:  Lieut,  ScL  watka, 
U.  S.  A.,  commanding;  Dr.  George  F.  Wilson, 
U.  S.  A.,  Surgeon  ;  Topograpliical  Assistant  Charles  A. 
Homan,  U.  S.  Engineers,  Topographer  and  Photographer ; 
Sergeant  Charles  A.  Gloster,  U.  S.  A.,  Artist;  CorjDoral 
Shircliff,  U.S.A.,  in  charge  of  stores;  Private  Roth, 
assistant,  and  Citizen  J.  B.  Mcintosh,  a  miner,  who  had 
lived  in  Alaska  and  was  well  acquainted  with  its  methods 
of  travel.  Indians  and  others  were  added  and  discharged 
from  time  to  time  as  hereafter  noted. 

The  main  object  of  the  expedition  was  to  acquire 
such  information  of  the  country  traversed  and  its  wild 
inhabitants  as  would  be  valuable  to  the  military- 
authorities  in  the  future,  and  as  a  map  would  be  need- 
ful to  illustrate  such  information  well,  the  party's 
efforts  were  rewarded  with  making  the  expedition 
successful  in  a  geographical  sense.  I  had  hoped  to 
be  able,  through  qualified  subordinates,  to  extend  our 
scientific  knowledge  of  the  country  explored,  espec- 
ially in  regard  to  its  botany,  geology,  natural  history, 
etc.;    and,   although  these    subjects  would  not  in  any 


10  ALONG  ALASKA'S  GREAT  RIVER. 

event  have    been    adequately    discussed  in  a  popular 
treatise  like  the  present,  it  must  be  admitted  that  little 
was  accomplished  in  these  branches.     The  explanation 
of  this  is  as  follows :  When  authority  was  asked  from 
Congress  for  a  sum  of  money  to  make  such  explorations 
under  military   supervision   and  the   request  was  dis- 
approved by  the  General  of  the  Army  and  Secretary  of 
War.     This  disapproval,  combined  with  the  active  oppo- 
sition of  government  departments  which  were  assigned 
to  work  of  the  same  general  character  and  coupled  with 
the  reluctance  of  Congress  to  make  any  appropriations 
whatever  that  year,  was  sufficient  to  kill  such  an  under- 
taking. When  the  military  were  withdrawn  from  Alaska 
by  the  President,  about  the  year  1878,  a  paragraph  ap- 
peared at  the  end  of  the  President' s  order  stating  that 
no  further  control  would  be  exercised  by  the  army  in 
Alaska ;  and  this  proviso  was  variously  interi)reted  by 
the  friends  of  the  army  and  its  enemies,  as  a  humiliation 
either  to  the  army  or  to  the  President,  according  to  the 
private  belief  of  the  commentator.      It  was  therefore 
seriously  debated  whether  any  military  expedition   or 
party  sent  into  that  country  for  any  purx)ose  whatever 
would  not  be  a  direct  violation  of  the  President's  pro- 
scriptive  order,  and  when  it  was  decided  to  waive  that 
consideration,  and  send  in  a  party,  it  was  considered  too 
much  of  a  responsibility  to  add  any  specialists  in  science, 
with  the  disapproval  of  the  General  and  the   Secretary 
hardly  dry  on  the  paper.     The  expedition  was  therefore, 
to  avoid  being  recalled,  kept  as  secret  as  possible,  and 
when,   on  May  22d,  it  departed  from  Portland,  Oregon, 
upon  the  Victoria^  a  vessel  which  had  been  specially  put 
on  the  Alaska  route,  only  a  two  or  three  line  notice  had 


INTROD  VCTOR  Y.  ti 

gotten  into  tlie  Oregon  papers  announcing  tlie  fact ; 
a  notice  that  in  sx)reading  was  referred  to  in  print  by 
one  government  official  as  "a  junketing  party,"  by 
another  as  a  "prospecting"  party,  while  another 
bitterly  acknowledged  that  had  he  received  another 
day's  intimation  he  could  have  had  the  party  recalled 
by  the  authorities  at  Washington.  Thus  the  little  ex- 
pedition which  gave  the  first  complete  survey  to  the 
third  *  river  of  our  country  stole  away  like  a  thief  in  the 
night  and  with  far  less  money  in  its  hands  to  conduct 
it  through  its  long  journey  than  was  afterward  appro- 
I)riated  by  Congress  to  publish  its  report. 

Leaving  Portland  at  midnight  on  the  22d,  the  Victo- 
ria arrived  at  Astoria  at  the  mouth  of  the  Columbia  the 
forenoon  of  the  23d,  the  remaining  hours  of  daylight 
being  emjoloyed  in  loading  with  supplies  for  a  number  of 
salmon  canneries  in  Alaska,  the  large  amount  of  freight 
for  which  had  necessitated  this  extra  steamer.  That 
night  we  crossed  the  Columbia  River  bar  and  next 
morning  entered  the  Strait  of  Juan  de  Fuca,  the  southern 
entrance  from  the  Pacific  Ocean  which  leads  to  the  in- 
land passage  to  Alaska. 


*  The  largest  river  on  the  North  American  continent  so  far  as  this 
mighty  stream  flows  within  our  boundaries.  .  .  .  The  people  of 
the  United  States  will  not  be  quick  to  take  to  the  idea  that  the  vol- 
ume of  water  in  an  Alaskan  river  is  greater  than  that  discharged  b}- 
the  mighty  Mississippi ;  but  it  is  entirely  within  the  bounds  of  honest 
statement  to  say  that  the  Yukon  river  .  .  .  discharges  every 
hour  one-third  more  water  than  the  "  Father  of  Waters."— Petroff's 
Government  Report  on  Alaska. 


CHAPTER  11. 


THE  INLAND   PASSAGE   TO   ALASKA. 


LAND  PASSAGE  "  to 
Alaska  is  the  fjord -like 
rji  channel,  resembling  a  great 
river,  which  extends  from 
the  northwestern  part  of 
Washington  Territory, 
through  British  Columbia, 
into  southeastern  Alaska. 
Along    this    coast    line  for 


about  a  thousand  miles,  stretches  a  vast  archipelago 
closely  hugging  the  mainland  of  the  Territories  named 
above,  the  southernmost  important  island  being  Van- 
couver, almost  a  diminutive  continent  in  itself,  while  to 
the  north  Tchichagoff  Island  limits  it  on  the  seaboard. 

From  the  little  town  of  Olympia  at  the  head  of  Puget 
Sound,  in  Washington  Territory,  to  Chilkat,  Alaska,  at 
the  head  of  Lynn  Channel,  or  Canal,  one  sails  as  if  on  a 
grand  river,  and  it  is  really  hard  to  comprehend  that  it  is 
a  portion  of  the  ocean  unless  one  can  imagine  some  deep 
fjord  in  Norway  or  Greenland,  so  deep  that  he  can  sail 
on  its  waters  for  a  fortnight,  for  the  fjord-like  character 
is  very  prominent  in  these  channels  to  which  the  name  of 
".  Inland  Passage  "  is  usually  given. 

These  channels  between  the  islands  and  mainland  are 
strikingly  uniform  in  width,  and  therefore  river-like  in 


THE  INLAND  PASSAGE  TO  ALASKA.  13 

appearance  as  one  steams  or  sails  through  them.  At 
occasional  points  they  connect  with  the  Pacific  Ocean, 
and  if  there  be  a  storm  on  the  latter,  a  few  rolling  swells 
may  enter  at  these  places  and  disturb  the  equilibrium  of 
sensitive  stomachs  for  a  brief  hour,  but  at  all  other 
places  the  channel  is  as  quiet  as  any  broad  river,  what- 
ever the  weather.  On  the  south  we  have  the  Strait  of 
Juan  de  Fuca  and  to  the  north  Cross  Sound  as  the  limit- 
ing channels,  while  between  the  two  are  found  Dixon 
Entrance,  which  separates  Alaska  from  British  Colum- 
bia, Queen  Charlotte  Sound,  and  other  less  important 

outlets. 

On  the  morning  of  the  24th  of  May  we  entered  the 
Strait  of  Juan  de  Fuca,  named  after  an  explorer— if 
such  he  may  be  called— who  never  entered  this  beautiful 
sheet  of  water,  and  who  owes  his  immortality  to  an 
audacious  guess,  which  came  so  near  the  truth  as  to 
deceive  the  scientific  world  for  many  a  century.  To  the 
left,  as  we  enter,  i.e.,  northward,  is  the  beautiful  British 
island  of  Vancouver,  the  name  of  which  commemorates 
one  of  the  world's  most  famous  explorers.  Its  high 
rolling  hills  are  covered  with  shaggy  firs,  broken  near 
the  beach  into  little  prairies  of  brighter  green,  which  are 
dotted  here  and  there  with  pretty  little  white  cottages, 
the  humblest  abodes  we  see  among  the  industrious, 
British  or  American,  who  live  in  the  far  west. 

The  American  side,  to  the  southward,  gives  us  the 
same  picture  backed  by  the  high  range  of  the  Olympian 
Mountains,  whose  tops  are  covered  with  perpetual  snow, 
and  upon  whose  cold  sides  drifting  clouds  are  con- 
densed. 
Through  British  Columbia  the  sides  of  this  passage  are 


14  ALONG  ALASKA'S  GREAT  RIVER. 

covered  with  firs  and  spruce  to  the  very  tops  of  the  steep 
mountains  forming  them,  but  as  Northing  is  gained 
and  Ahi.ska  is  readied  the  summits  are  covered  witli  snow 
and  ice  at  all  months  of  the  year,  and  by  the  time  we 
cast  anchor  in  Chilkat  Inlet,  which  is  about  the  north- 
ernmost point  of  this  great  inland  salt-water  river,  we 
find  in  many  places  these  crowns  of  ice  debouching  in 
the  shape  of  glaciers  to  the  very  water's  level,  and  tlie 
tourist  beholds,  on  a  regular  line  of  steamboat  travel, 
glaciers  and  icebergs,  and  many  of  the  wonders  of  arctic 
regions,  although  upon  a  reduced  scale.  Alongside  the 
very  banks  and  edges  of  these  colossal  rivers  of  ice  one 
can  gather  the  most  beautiful  of  Alpine  flowers  and 
wade  up  to  his  waist  in  grasses  that  equal  in  luxuriance 
the  famed  fields  of  the  pampas  ;  while  the  singing  of  the 
birds  from  the  woods  and  glens  and  the  fragrance  of  the 
foliage  make  one  easily  imagine  that  the  Arctic  circle 
and  equator  have  been  linked  together  at  this  j)oint. 

Entering  Juan  de  Fuca  Strait  a  few  hours  were  spent 
in  the  pretty  little  anchorage  of  Neah  Bay,  the  first 
shelter  for  ships  after  rounding  Cape  Flattery,  and  here 
some  merchandise  was  unloaded  in  the  huge  Indian 
canoes  that  came  alongside,  each  one  holding  at  least 
a  ton. 

Victoria,  the  metropolis  of  British  Columbia,  was 
reached  the  same  day,  and  as  it  was  the  Queen's  birth- 
day we  saw  the  town  in  all  its  bravery  of  beer,  bunting 
and  banners.  Our  vessel  tooted  itself  hoarse  outside  the 
harbor  to  get  a  i)ilot  over  the  bar,  but  none  was  to  be 
had  till  late  in  the  day,  when  a  pilot  came  out  to  us 
snowing  plainly  by  his  condition  that  he  knew  every  bar 
in  and  about  Victoria.    With  the  bar  pilot  on  the  bridge, 


THE  INLAND  PASSAGE  TO  ALASKA.  15 

g  <  as  to  save  insurance  should  an  accident  occur, 
we  entered  the  picturesque  little  harbor  in  safety, 
despite  the  discoveries  of  our  guide  that  since  his  last 
visit  all  the  buoys  had  been  woefully  misplaced,  and  even 
the  granite  channel  had  changed  its  course.  But  Vic- 
toria has  many  embellishments  more  durable  than  bunt- 
ing and  banners,  and  most  conspicuous  among  them  are 
her  well  arranged  and  well  constructed  roads,  in  which 
she  has  no  equal  on  the  Pacific  coast  of  North  America, 
and  but  few  rivals  in  any  other  jDart  of  the  world. 

On  the  26th  we  crossed  over  to  Port  Townsend,  the 
port  of  entry  for  Puget  sound,  and  on  the  27th  we 
headed  for  Alaska  by  way  of  the  Inland  Passage. 

For  purposes  of  description  this  course  should  have 
been  designated  the  "inland  passages,"  in  the  plural, 
for  its  branches  are  almost  innumerable,  running  in  all 
directions  like  the  streets  of  an  irregular  city,  although 
now  and  then  they  are  reduced  to  a  single  channel  or 
fjord  which  the  steamer  is  obliged  to  take  or  put  out  to 
sea.  At  one  point  in  Discovery  Passage  leading  from 
the  Gulf  of  Georgia  toward  Queen  Charlotte  Sound,  the 
inland  passage  is  so  narrow  that  our  long  vessel  had  to 
steam  under  a  slow  bell  to  avoid  accidents,  and  at  this 
place,  called  Seymour  Narrows,  there  was  much  talk  of 
bridging  the  narrow  way  in  the  grand  scheme  of  a  Can- 
adian Pacific  Railway,  which  should  have  its  western 
terminus  at  Victoria.  Through  this  contracted  way  the 
water  fairly  boils  when  at  its  greatest  velocity,  equaling 
ten  miles  an  hour  in  spring  tides,  and  at  such  times  the 
passage  is  hazardous  even  to  steamers,  while  all  other 
craft  avoid  it  until  slack  water.  Jutting  rocks  increase 
the  danger,  and  on  one  of  these  the  United  States  man- 


16  ALONG  ALASKA'S  GREAT  RIVER. 

of -war  Saranac  was  lost  just  eight  years  before  we 
passed  through.  At  the  northern  end  of  this  pictur- 
esque Discovery  Passage  you  see  the  inland  passage 
trending  away  to  the  eastward,  with  quite  a  bay  on  the 
left  around  Chatham  Point,  and  while  you  are  wondering 
in  that  half  soliloquizing  way  of  a  traveler  in  new  lands 
what  you  will  see  after  you  have  turned  to  the  right, 
the  great  ship  swings  suddenly  to  the  left,  and  you  find 
that  what  you  took  for  a  bay  is  after  all  the  inland  pas- 
sage itself,  which  stretches  once  more  before  you  like 
the  Hudson  looking  upward  from  West  Point,  or  the 
Delaware  at  the  Water  Gap.  For  all  such  little  surprises 
must  the  tourist  be  prepared  on  this  singular  voyage. 

The  new  bend  now  becomes  Johnstone  Strait  and  so 
continues  to  Queen  Charlotte  Sound,  with  which  it  con- 
nects by  one  strait,  two  x)assages  and  a  channel,  all  alike, 
except  in  name,  and  none  much  over  ten  miles  long. 
At  nearly  every  point  where  a  new  channel  diverges 
both  arms  take  on  a  new  name,  and  they  change  as 
rapidly  as  the  names  of  a  Lisbon  street,  which  seldom 
holds  the  same  over  a  few  blocks.  The  south  side  of 
Johnstone  Strait  is  iDarticularly  high,  rising  abruptly 
from  the  water  fully  5,000  feet,  and  in  grandeur  not 
unlike  the  Yellowstone  Canon.  These  summits  were 
still  covered  with  snow  and  probably  on  northern  slopes 
snow  remains  the  summer  through.  One  noticeable 
valley  was  on  the  Vancouver  Island  side,  with  a  con- 
spicuous conical  hill  in  its  bosom  that  may  have  been 
over  a  thousand  feet  in  height.  These  cone-like  hills 
are  so  common  in  flat  valleys  in  northwestern  America 
that  I  thought  it  worth  Avhile  to  mention  the  fact  in  this 
place.     I  shall  have  occasion  to  do  so  again  at  a  later 


THE  INLAND  PASSAGE  TO  ALASKA.  17 

point  in  my  narrative.  Occasionally  windrows  occur 
through,  the  dense  coniferous  forests  of  the  inland  pas- 
sage, where  the  trees  have  been  swept  or  leveled  in  a 
remarkable  manner.  Such  as  were  cut  vertically  had 
been  caused  by  an  avalanche,  and  in  these  instances  the 
work  of  clearing  had  been  done  as  faithfully  as  if  by  the 
hands  of  man.  Sometimes  the  bright  green  moss  or 
grass  had  grown  up  in  these  narrow  ways,  and  when  there 
was  more  than  one  of  about  the  same  age  there  was  quite 
a  picturesque  effect  of  stripings  of  two  shades  of  green, 
executed  on  a  most  colossal  plan.  These  windrows  of 
fallen  trees  sometimes  stretched  along  horizontally  in 
varying  widths,  an  effect  undoubtedly  produced  by 
heavy  gales  rushing  through  the  contracted  "passage." 

One' s  notice  is  attracted  by  a  species  of  natural  beacon 
which  materially  assists  the  navigator.  Over  almost  all 
the  shoals  and  submerged  rocks  hang  fields  of  kelp,  a 
growth  with  which  the  whole  "passage"  abounds,  thus 
affording  a  timely  warning  badly  needed  where  the 
channel  has  been  imperfectly  charted.  As  one  might 
surmise  the  water  is  very  bold,  and  these  submerged  and 
ragged  rocks  are  in  general  most  to  be  feared.  Leaving 
Johnstone  Strait  we  enter  Queen  Charlotte  Sound,  a 
channel  which  was  named,  lacking  only  three  years,  a 
century  ago.  It  widens  into  capacious  waters  at  once 
and  we  again  felt  the  "throbbing  of  old  Neptune's 
pulse,"  and  those  with  sensitive  stomachs  perceived  a 
sort  of  flickering  of  their  own. 

One  who  is  acquainted  merely  in  a  general  way  with 
the  history  and  geography  of  this  confusing  country 
finds  many  more  Spanish  names  than  he  anticipates,  and 
to  his  surprise,  a  conscientious  investigation  shows  tnat 


i8  ALONG  ALASKA'S  GREAT  RIVER. 

even  as  it  is  the  vigorous  old  Castilian  exjjlorers  have 
not  received  all  the  credit  to  which  they  are  entitled,  for 
many  of  their  discoveries  in  changing  hands  changed 
names  as  w^ell :  the  Queen  Charlotte  Islands,  a  good 
day's  run  to  the  northwestward  of  us,  were  named  in 
1787  by  an  Englishman,  who  gave  the  group  the  name 
of  his  vessel,  an  appellation  which  they  still  retain, 
although  as  Florida  Blanca  they  had  known  the  banner 
of  Castile  and  Leon  thirteen  years  before.  Mount  Edge- 
cumbe,  so  prominent  in  the  beautiful  harbor  of  Sitka,  was 
once  Monte  San  Jacinto,  and  a  list  of  the  same  tenor 
might  be  given  that  would  prove  more  voluminous  than 
interesting.  American  changes  in  the  great  northwest 
have  not  been  so  radical.  Boca  de  Quadra  Inlet  has 
somehow  become  Bouquet  Inlet  to  those  knowing  it  best. 
La  Creole  has  degenerated  into  Rickreall,  and  so  on  :  the 
foreign  names  have  been  mangled  but  not  annihilated. 
We  sail  across  Queen  Charlotte  Sound  as  if  we  were 
going  to  bump  right  into  the  high  land  ahead  of  us,  but 
a  little  indentation  over  the  bow  becomes  a  valley,  then 
a  bay,  and  in  amjjle  time  to  prevent  accidents  widens  into 
another  salt-water  river,  about  two  miles  wide  and 
twenty  times  as  long,  called  Fitzhugh  Sound.  Near  the 
head  of  the  sound  we  turn  abruptly  westward  into  the 
Lama  Passage,  and  on  its  western  shores-  we  see 
nearly  the  first  sign  of  civilization  in  the  inland  passage, 
the  Indian  village  of  Bella  Bella,  holding  probably  a 
dozen  native  houses  and  a  fair  looking  church,  while  a 
few  cattle  grazing  near  the  place  had  a  still  more  civilized 
air. 

As   we   steamed   thnjugh   Seaforth  Channel,    a  most 
tortuous  affair,  Indians  were  seen  paddling  in  their  hfige 


SCENES    IN    THE    INLAND    PASSAGE. 


THE  INLAND  PASSAGE  TO  ALASKA.  21 

canoes  from  one  island  to  another  or  along  the  liigli,  rocky- 
shores,  a  cheering  sign  of  habitation  not  previously 
noticed. 

The  great  fault  of  the  inland  passage  as  a  resort  for 
tourists  is  in  the  constant  dread  of  fogs  that  may  at  any 
time  during  certain  months  of  the  year  completely 
obscure  the  grand  scenery  that  tempted  the  travelers 
thither.  The  waters  of  the  Pacific  Ocean  on  the  sea- 
board of  Alaska  are  but  a  deflected  continuation  of  the 
warm  equatorial  current  called  the  Kuro  Siwo  of  the 
Japanese  ;  from  these  waters  the  air  is  laden  with 
moisture,  which  being  thrown  by  the  variable  winds 
against  the  snow-clad  and  glacier-covered  summits  of 
the  higher  mountains,  is  precipitated  as  fog  and  light 
rain,  and  oftentimes  every  thing  is  wrapped  for  weeks 
in  these  most  annoying  mists.  July,  with  June  and 
August,  are  by  far  the  most  favorable  months  for  the 
traveler.  The  winter  months  are  execrable,  with  storms 
of  rain,  snow  and  sleet  constantly  occurring,  the  former 
along  the  Pacific  frontage,  and  the  latter  near  the 
channels  of  the  mainland. 

Milbank  Sound  gave  us  another  taste  of  the  ocean 
swells  which  spoiled  the  flavor  of  our  food  completely, 
for  although  we  were  only  exposed  for  less  than  an  hour 
that  hour  happened  to  come  just  about  dinner  time  ; 
after  which  we  entered  Finlayson  Passage,  some  twenty- 
five  miles  long.  This  is  a  particularly  picturesque  and 
*Dold  channel  of  water,  its  shores  covered  with  shaggy 
conifers  as  high  as  the  eye  can  reach,  and  the  mountains, 
with  their  crowns  of  snow  and  ice,  furnishing  supplies  of 
spray  for  innumerable  beautiful  waterfalls.  At  many 
places  in  the  inland  passage  from  here  on,  come  down  the 


22  ALONG  ALASKA'S  GREAT  RIVER. 

steep  timbered  mountains  the  most  beautiful  waterfalls  fed 
from  the  glaciers  hidden  in  the  fog.  At  every  few  nnles 
we  pass  the  mouths  of  inlets  and  channels,  leading  away 
into  the  mountainous  country  no  one  knows  whither. 
There  are  no  charts  whicli  show  more  than  the  mouths 
of  these  inlets.  Out  of  or  into  these  an  occasional  canoe 
speeds  its  silent  way  perchance  in  quest  of  salmon  that 
here  abound,  but  the  secrets  of  their  hidden  paths  are 
locked  in  the  savage  mind.  How  tempting  they  must  be 
for  exploration,  and  how  strange  that,  although  so  easy 
of  access,  they  still  remain  unknown.  After  twisting 
around  through  a  few  "reaches,''  channels  and  passages, 
we  enter  the  straightest  of  them  all,  Grenville  Channel, 
so  straight  that  it  almost  seems  to  have  been  mapped  by 
an  Indian.  As  you  steam  through  its  forty  or  fifty  miles 
of  mathematically  rectilinear  exactness  you  think  the 
sleepy  pilot  might  tie  his  wheel,  put  his  heels  up  in  the 
spokes,  draw  his  hat  over  his  eyes  and  take  a  quiet  nap. 
In  one  place  it  seems  to  be  not  over  two  or  three  hundred 
yards  wide,  but  probably  is  double  that,  the  high  tower- 
ing banks  giving  a  deceptive  impression.  The  windrows 
through  the  timber  of  former  avalanches  of  snow  or  land- 
slides, now  become  thicker  and  their  effects  occasionally 
picturesque  in  the  very  devastation  created.  Beyond 
Grenville  Channel  the  next  important  stretch  of  salt 
w^ater  is  Chatham  Sound,  which  is  less  like  a  river  than 
any  yet  named.  Its  connection  with  Grenville  Channel 
is  by  the  usual  number  of  three  or  four  irregular  water- 
ways dodging  around  fair  sized  islands,  whicli  had  at 
one  time,  however,  a  certain  importance  because  it  was 
thought  that  the  Canadian  Pacific  Railway  might  make 
Skeena  Inlet  off  to  our  right  its  western  terminus. 


THE  INLAND  PASSAGE  TO  ALASKA.  23 

On  the  29th  of  May,  very  early  in  the  morning,  we 
crossed  Dixon  Entrance,  and  were  once  more  on  Ameri- 
can soil,  that  is,  in  a  commercial  sense,  the  United  States 
having  drawn  a  check  for  its  value  of  $7,200,000,  and 
the  check  having  been  honored  ;  but  in  regard  to  govern- 
ment the  country  may  be  called  no  man's  land,  none 
existing  in  the  territory.  Dixon  Entrance  bore  once  a 
Spanish  name  in  honor  of  its  discoverer,  a  name  which 
is  heard  no  more,  although  a  few  still  call  the  channel 
by  its  Indian  name,  Kaiganee.  Broad  Dixon  Entrance 
contracts  into  the  narrow  Portland  Inlet,  which,  putting 
back  into  the  mainland  for  some  seventy-five  miles,  forms 
the  water  boundary  between  Alaska  and  British  Col- 
umbia. From  here  it  becomes  a  thirty  mile  wide  strip 
drawn  "parallel  to  tide-water,"  which  continues  with  a 
few  modifications  to  about  Mount  St.  Elias. 

The  forenoon  of  the  same  day  we  entered  Boca  de 
Quadra  Inlet,  where  a  pioneer  company  had  established 
a  salmon  cannery,  for  which  we  had  some  freight.  The 
cannery  was  about  half  completed  and  the  stores  were 
landed  on  a  raft  made  of  only  two  logs,  which  impressed 
me  with  the  size  of  the  Sitka  cedar.  The  largest  log 
was  probably  seventy-five  feet  long  and  fully  eight  feet 
at  the  butt.  It  is  said  to  be  impervious  to  the  teredo, 
which  makes  such  sad  havoc  with  all  other  kinds  of 
wood  sunk  in  salt  water.  Owing  to  its  fine  grain  and 
peculiar  odor,  handsome  chests  can  be  made  of  it  in 
which  that  universal  pest,  the  moth,  will  not  live.  It  is 
purely  an  Alaskan  tree,  and  even  north  of  Quadra  Inlet 
it  is  found  in  its  densest  growth.  As  around  all  white 
habitations  in  frontier  lands,  we  found  the  usual  number 
of  natives,  although  in  this  case  they  were  here  for  the 


24  ALONG  ALASKA'S  GREAT  RIVER. 

commendable  object  of  seeking  employment  in  catching 
salmon  whenever  the  run  should  commence.  Their 
canoes  are  constructed  of  the  great  cedar  tree,  by  the 
usual  Indian  method  of  hollowing  them  out  to  a  thin 
shell  and  then  boiling  water  in  them  by  throwing  in  red 
hot  stones  in  the  water  they  hold,  producing  pliability 
of  the  wood  by  the  steaming  process,  when,  by  means  of 
braces  and  ties  they  are  fashioned  into  nautical  "lines." 
The  peaks  of  the  prows  are  often  fantastically  carved 
into  various  insignia,  usually  spoken  of  as  "  totems," 
and  painted  in  wild  barbaric  designs  (see  page  43,)  the 
body  of  the  boat  being  covered  with  deep  black  made 
from  soot  and.  seal  oil.  Crawling  along  under  the  somber 
shadows  of  the  dense  overhanging  trees  in  the  deep  dark 
passages,  these  canoes  can  hardly  be  seen  until  very  near, 
and  when  a  flash  of  the  water  from  the  paddle  reveals 
their  presence,  they  look  more  like  smugglers  or  pirates 
avoiding  notice  than  any  thing  else.  The  genial  super- 
intendent, Mr.  Ward,  spoke  of  his  rambles  uj)  the 
picturesque  shores  of  the  inlet  and  his  adventures  since 
he  had  started  his  new  enterprise.  A  trip  of  a  few  days 
before  up  one  of  the  diminutive  valleys  drained  by  a 
little  Alpine  brook,  had  rewarded  him  with  the  sight  of 
no  less  than  eight  bears  skurrying  around  through  the 
woods.  He  had  an  Indian  companion  who  was 
armed  with  a  flint-lock,  smooth  bore  Hudson  Bay  Com- 
pany musket,  while  the  superintendent  had  a  shot  gun 
for  any  small  game  that  might  happen  along,  and  even 
with  these  arms  they  succeeded  in  bagging  a  bear  apiece, 
both  being  of  the  black — or  small — variety.  Hunting 
the  little  black  bear  is  not  far  removed  from  a  good 
old-fashioned  "coon"  hunt,   and  not  much  more  dan- 


THE  INLAND  PASSAGE  TO  ALASKA.  25 

geroiis.  The  clogs,  mostly  the  shari^-eared,  sharp-nosed 
and  sharp-barking  Indian  variety,  once  after  a  bear, 
force  him  uj)  a  tree  to  save  his  hamstrings  being  nipped 
uncomfortably,  and  then  he  is  shot  out  of  it,  at  the 
hunter' s  leisure,  and  if  wounded  is  so  small  and  easily 
handled  by  the  pack  of  dogs  that  he  can  hardly  be 
called  dangerous.  ISTot  so,  however,  with  the  great  brown 
bear,  or  barren-ground  bear  of  Alaska,  so  often  spoken 
of  in  these  parts  as  the  ' '  grizzly ' '  from  his  similarity 
in  size  and  savageness  to  "the  California  King  of  the 
Chapparal."  Everywhere  in  his  dismal  dominions  he  is 
religiously  avoided  by  the  native  Nimrod,  who  declares 
that  his  meat  is  not  fit  to  be  eaten,  that  his  robe  is  almost 
worthless,  and  that  he  constantly  keeps  the  wrong  end 
presented  to  his  pursuers.  Although  he  is  never  hunted 
encounters  with  him  are  not  altogether  unknown,  as  he  is 
savage  enough  to  become  the  hunter  himself  at  times, 
and  over  some  routes  the  Indians  will  never  travel  unless 
armed  so  as  to  be  fairly  protected  from  this  big  Bruin. 
This  Indian  fear  of  the  great  brown  bear  I  found  to  be 
co-extensive  with  all  my  travels  in  Alaska  and  the 
British  North-west  Territory.  Mr.  Ward  told  me  that 
wherever  the  big  bear  was  found,  the  little  black  variety 
made  his  presence  scarce,  as  the  two  in  no  way  affiliate, 
and  the  latter  occupies  such  country  as  the  abundance 
of  his  big  brother  will  allow.  These  districts  may  be 
intermixed  as  much  as  the  black  and  white  squares  on  a 
chess-board,  but  they  are  as  sharply,  though  not  as 
mathematically,  defined,  each  one  remaining  faithfully 
on  his  own  color,  so  to  speak.  A  new  repeating  rifle 
was  on  our  vessel  consigned  to  the  sportsman  super- 
intendent,   and    he    expected    to    decrease    the     bear 


26  ALONG  ALASKA'S  GREAT  RIVER. 

census  during  the  summer,  so  far  as  his  duties  would 
allow. 

About  noon,  after  much  backing  and  putting  of  lines 
ashore,  and  working  on  them  from  the  donkey  engines 
fore  and  aft,  we  succeeded  in  turning  our  long  steamer 
in  the  narrow  channel,  the  pilot  remarking  in  reply  to 
the  captain's  inquiries  as  to  shoals,  that  he  wished  he 
could  exchange  the  depth  for  the  width  and  he  would 
have  no  trouble  in  turning  around. 

Through  this  part  of  the  inland  passage  sea-otters  are 
said  to  be  found,  and  it  was  thought  that  one  or  two 
were  seen  by  some  of  the  people  on  board,  but  no  one 
could  vouch  for  the  discovery. 

The  everlasting  mountain  scenery  now  commences  to 
pall  and  offers  nothing  in  the  way  of  the  picturesque 
except  the  same  old  high  mountains,  the  same  dense 
growth  of  timber  on  their  steep  sides,  and  the  same  salt- 
water canals  cutting  through  them.  A  valley  putting 
off  any  where  would  have  been  a  relief,  and  breaks  in 
the  uniformly  high  mountains  that  looked  as  if  they 
might  be  ravines,  so  persistently  became  other  arms  and 
canals  of  the  great  networks  of  passage,  that  we  were 
any  thing  but  sorry  when  a  fog  bank  settled  down  about 
two  hundred  feet  above  our  eyes  and  cut  the  fjord  as 
sharply  at  that  height  as  if  it  had  been  the  crest  line  of 
a  fortification  extending  oft'  into  miles  of  bastions  and 
covered  ways. 

Early  morning  on  the  30th  found  us  at  the  little  port 
of  Wrangell,   named  after  one  of  Russia's  many  fam 
ous   explorers   in  northern  regions.       It  was  the  most 
tumble-down   looking  company  of   cabins  I  ever  saw, 
the   "Chinese   quarter"     (every  place  on   the  Pacific 


THE  INLAND  PASSAGE  TO  ALASKA.  27 

coast  has  its  "Chinese  quarter"  if  it  is  only  a  single 
house)  being  a  wrecked  river  vessel  high  and  dry  on  the 
pebbly  beach,  which,  however,  was  not  much  inferior  to 
the  rest  of  the  town.  Not  far  from  here  comes  in  the 
Stickeen  river,  the  largest  stream  that  cuts  through  the 
south-eastern  or  "  tide-water  strij)  "  of  Alaska.  About 
its  headwaters  are  the  Cassiar  mines  of  British 
Columbia,  and  as  the  Stickeen  river  is  the  nearest 
available  way  to  reach  them,  although  the  traveler's 
course  is  against  the  stream  of  a  mountain  torrent,  the 
circumstance  has  made  something  of  a  port  of  Wran- 
gell,  which  nearly  ten  years  ago  was  at  the  height  of  its 
glory  of  gold-dust  and  excitement.  Even  at  this  dis- 
tance the  dark  green  water  of  the  deep  channel  is  tinged 
with  a  white  chalky  color  ground  from  the  flanks  of  the 
calcareous  hills  by  the  eroding  glaciers,  then  swept  into 
the  swift  river  and  by  it  carried  far  out  into  the  tortuous 
passages.  Every  stream,  however  small,  in  this  part  of 
the  world,  with  glaciers  along  its  course  or  upon  its  trib- 
utaries, carries  this  milk-like  water  in  its  current. 

With  all  its  rickety  aj)pearance  there  was  no  small 
amount  of  business  doing  in  Wrangell,  no  less  than  four 
or  five  fair  sized  backwoods  stores  being  there,  all  appar- 
ently in  thrifty  circumstances.  Indian  curiosities  of  all 
kinds  were  to  be  had,  from  carved  spoons  of  the  mount- 
ain goat  at  "two  bits"  (twenty-five  cents)  apiece  to  the 
most  elaborate  idols  or  totemic  carvings.  A  fair  market 
is  found  for  these  articles  among  the  few  visitors  who 
travel  in  this  out-of-the-way  corner  of  the  earth,  and 
when  the  supj)ly  is  exhausted  in  any  line  the  natives 
will  immediately  set  to  work  to  satisfy  the  demand.  One 
huge  carved  horn  spoon  was  evidently  of  very  ancient 


28  ALOXG  ALASKA'S  GREAT  RIVER. 

make  and  very  line  workmanship,  an  old  pioneer  of  these 
regions  who  had  owned  it  for  many  years  having  refused 
sixty  dollars  for  it  from  some  curiosity  collectors  only 
the  year  before. 

From  Wrangell  we  debouched  westward  by  Sumner 
Strait,  the  wide  salt-water  river  that  continues  the  nar- 
row fresh-water  river  of  Stickeen  to  the  Pacific  Ocean. 

Between  five  and  six  in  the  afternoon  we  are  roundins- 
Cape  Ommaney,  where  our  pilot  tells  us  it  storms  eight 
days  in  the  week.  It  certainly  gave  us  double  rations  of 
wind  that  day,  and  many  retired  early.  Even  the  old 
Spanish  navigators  who  first  laid  eyes  upon  it  must  have 
borne  it  a  grudge  to  have  called  it  Pu?ita  Oeste  de  la 
Eatrada  del  Principe;  all  its  geographical  character- 
istics and  relations  being  shouldered  on  it  for  a  name. 

Early  next  morning  we  w^ere  in  the  harbor  of  Sitka,  or 
New  Archangel,  as  the  Russians  called  it  wdien  they  had 
it  for  their  capital  of  this  province.  The  strong,  bold 
bluffs  of  the  interior  passages  now  give  way  to  gentler 
elevations  along  the  Pacific  seaboard,  but  the  country 
gradually  rises  from  the  coast  until  but  a  few  miles  back 
the  same  old  cloud-capped,  snow-covered  peaks  recur, 
and  as  we  stand  well  out  to  sea  they  look  as  abrupt  as 
ever. 

Sitka  is  a  picturesque  place  when  viewed  from  any 
point  except  from  within  the  town  limits.  From  the 
south-west,  looking  north-east.  Mount  Edgecumbe  (of 
Cook)  affords  a  beautiful  background  against  the  west- 
ern sky,  and  when  that  is  full  of  low.  white  clouds  the 
abrupt  manner  in  which  the  point  of  the  mountain  is  cut 
off  gives  it  the  appearance  of  being  buried  in  the  clouds, 
thus  seeming  several  times  higher  than  it  really  is. 


'^^^-mU   ^ 


THE  INLAND  PASSAGE  TO  ALASKA.  31 

The  harbor  of  Sitka  is  so  full  of  small  islands  that 
looking  at  it  from  a  height  it  seems  as  if  it  could  only  be 
mapped  with  a  pepper-box,  and  one  wonders  how  any 
vessel  can  get  to  her  wharf.  Once  alongside,  the  water 
seems  as  clear  as  the  atmosphere  above,  and  the  smallest 
objects  can  be  easily  identified  at  the  bottom,  though 
there  must  have  been  fully  thirty  or  forty  feet  of  water 
where  we  made  our  observations. 

On  one  of  the  large  islands  in  Sitka  harbor,  called 
Japanese  Island,  an  old  Niphon  junk  was  cast,  early  in 
the  present  century,  and  her  small  crew  of  Japanese 
were  rescued  by  the  Russians.  Sitka  has  been  so  often 
described  that  it  is  unnecessary  to  do  more  than  refer 
the  reader  to  other  accounts  of  the  place. 

Ten  o'clock  in  the  forenoon  of  the  31st  saw  us  under 
way  steaming  northward,  still  keeping  to  the  inland 
passage,  and  en  route  to  deliver  wrecking  machinery  at 
a  point  in  Peril  Straits  where  the  Eureka,  a  small 
steamer  of  the  same  line  to  which  our  ship  belonged,  had 
formerly  run  on  a  submerged  rock  in  the  channel,  which 
did  not  appear  upon  the  charts.  The  unfortunate  boat 
had  just  time  to  reach  the  shore  and  beach  herself  before 
she  filled  with  water.  The  Eureka's  wreck  was  reached 
by  two  in  the  afternoon,  and  as  our  boat  might  be  de- 
tained for  some  time  in  assisting  the  disabled  vessel, 
many  of  us  embraced  the  opportunity  to  go  ashore  in 
the  wilds  of  the  Alexander  Archipelago.  The  walking 
along  the  beach  between  high  and  low  tide  was  toler- 
able, and  even  agreeable  for  whole  stretches,  especially 
after  our  long  confinement  on  the  ship,  where  the  facili- 
ties for  promenading  were  poor.  To  turn  inland  from 
the  shore  was  at  once  to  commence  the  ascent  of  a  slop* 


62  ALONG  ALASKA'S  GEE  A  T  RIVER. 

That  miglit  vary  frcm  forty  to  eiglity  degrees,  the  climb- 
ing of  which  almost  beggars  descrijjtion.  The  compact 
mass  of  evergreen  timber  had  looked  dense  enough  from 
the  ship,  but  at  its  feet  grew  a  denser  mass  of  tangled 
undergrowth  of  l)ushes  and  vines,  and  at  their  roots 
again  was  a  solid  carpeting  of  moss,  lichens,  and  ferns 
that  often  ran  up  the  trees  and  underbrush  for  heights 
greater  than  a  man's  reach,  and  all  of  it  moist  as  a 
sponge,  the  whole  being  absolutely  tropical  in  luxuri- 
ance. This  thick  carpet  of  moss  extends  from  the  shore 
line  to  the  edges  of  the  glaciers  on  the  mountain  sum- 
mits, and  the  constant  melting  of  the  ice  through  the 
warm  summer  supplies  it  with  water  which  it  absorbs 
like  a  sponge.  The  air  is  saturated  with  moisture  from 
the  warm  ocean  current,  and  every  thing  you  see  and 
touch  is  like  Mr.  Mantalinrs  proposed  body,  "dem'd 
moist  and  unpleasant."  It  is  almost  impossible  to  con- 
ceive how  heavily  laden  with  tropical  moisture  the  atmos- 
phere is  in  tliis  supposed  sub-Arctic  colony  of  ours, 
It  oozes  up  around  your  feet  as  you  walk,  and  drips 
from  overhead  like  an  April  mist,  and  nothing  is  exempt 
from  it.  Even  the  Indians'  tall,  dead  "totem-poles"  of 
hemlock  or  ipruce,  which  would  make  fine  kindling 
wood  any  where  else,  bear  huge  clumps  of  dripping  moss 
and  foliage  on  their  toi)s,  at  heights  varying  from  ten 
to  thirty  feet  above  the  ground.  An  occasional  stray 
seed  of  a  Sitka  spruce  may  get  caught  in  this  elevated 
tangle,  and  make  its  home  there  just  as  well  as  if  it  were 
on  the  ground.  It  sprouts,  and  as  its  branches  run  uj) 
in  the  air,  the  roots  crawl  down  the  "  totem -jiole  "  until 
the  ground  is  reached,  when  they  bury  themselves  in  it, 
and  send  up  fresh  sustenance  to  the  trunk  and  limbs, 


THE  INLAND  PASSAGE  TO  ALASKA.  33 

which  until  then  have  been  living  a  i)arasitic  sort  of  life 
olf  the  decayed  moss.  This  is  shown  in  illustration  on 
page  19,  being  a  view  at  Kaigan  Village.  Imagine  a 
city  boy  tossing  a  walnut  from  a  fourth  story  Avindow, 
and  its  lodging  on  top  of  a  telegraph  pole,  there  sprout- 
ing next  spring,  and  in  the  course  of  a  couple  of  years 
extending  its  roots  down  the  pole,  insinuating  them- 
selves in  the  crevices  and  splitting  it  open,  then  piercing 
the  pavement ;  the  tree  continuing  to  grow  for  years 
until  the  boy,  as  a  man,  ca-n  reach  out  from  his  window 
and  pick  walnuts  every  fall,  and  the  idea  seems  in- 
credible ;  and  yet  the  equivalent  occurs  quite  often  in 
the  south-eastern  portions  of  our  distant  colony.  Nor 
is  all  this  marshy  softness  confined  to  the  levels  or  to 
almost  level  slox)es,  as  one  would  imagine  from  one's  ex- 
perience at  home,  but  it  extends  up  the  steepest  places, 
where  the  climbing  would  be  hard  enough  without  this 
added  obstacle.  In  precipitous  slopes  where  the  foot 
tears  out  a  great  swath  of  moist  moss,  it  may  reveal  un- 
derneath a  slippery  shingle  or  shale  where  nothing 
but  a  bird  could  find  a  footing  in  its  present 
condition.  There  is  wonderful  preservative  power  in  all 
these  conditions,  for  nothing  seems  to  rot  in  the  ground, 
and  the  accumulated  timber  of  ages,  standing  and  fallen, 
stumps,  limbs,  and  trunks,  "criss-cross  and  tumble- 
tangled,"  as  the  children  say,  forms  a  bewildering  mass 
which,  covered  and  intertwined  as  it  is  with  a  compact 
entanglement  of  underbrush  and  moss,  makes  the  ascent 
of  the  steep  hillsides  a  formidable  undertaking.  A 
fallen  trunk  of  a  tree  is  only  indicated  by  a  ridge  of 
moss,  and  should  the  traveler  on  this  narrow  path 
deviate  a  little  too  far  to  the  right  or  left,  he  may  sink 


34  ALONG  ALASKA'S  GREAT  Hi  VER. 

up  to  his  arm-pits  in  a  soft  mossy  trap  from  which  he 
can  scramble  as  best  he  may,  according  to  his  activity  in 
the  craft  of  "  ba,ckwoodsmanship."  Having  once  reached 
the  tops  of  the  lower  hills — the  higher  ones  are  covered 
with  snow  and  glacier  ice  the  year  round — a  few  small 
openings  may  be  seen,  which,  if  any  thing,  are  more  boggy 
and  treacherous  to  the  feet  than  the  hillsides  themselves, 
lagoon-like  morasses,  covered  with  pond  lilies  and 
aquatic  plant  life,  being  connected  by  a  network  of 
sluggish  canals  with  three  or  four  inches  of  ambei 
colored  water  and  as  many  feet  of  soft  black  oozy  mud, 
with  here  and  there  a  clump  of  willow^  brake  or  "  pussy- 
tails"  springing  above  the  waste  of  sedge  and  flags. 
In  these  bayou  openings  a  hunter  may  now  and  then 
run  across  a  stray  deer,  bear,  or  mountain  goat,  but,  in 
general,  inland  hunting  in  south-eastern  Alaska  is  a 
complete  failure,  owing  to  the  scarcity  of  game  and  the 
labor  of  hunting. 

The  worst  part  of  Peril  Strait  being  ahead  of  us, 
w^e  backed  out  with  our  long  unwieldy  vessel  and  turned 
westward,  passing  out  late  in  the  evening  through 
Salisbury  Strait  to  the  Pacific  Ocean,  ours  being, 
according  to  the  pilot,  the  first  steam  vessel  to  essay 
the  passage.  A  last  night  on  the  Pacific's  rolling  water, 
and  early  next  morning  w^e  rounded  Cape  Ommaney^ 
and  entered  the  inland  passage  of  Chatham  Strait, 
our  prow  once  more  pointed  northward,  the  sheet  of 
water  lying  as  quiet  as  a  mill  pond.  About  4  p.  m.  w^e 
reached  Killisnoo,  a  pretty  little  port  in  the  Strait. 
Cod-fish  abounding  here  in  unusual  numbers,  a  regular 
fishery  has  been  established  by  a  company  for  the  pur- 
pose of  catching  and  preserving  the  cod  for  the  markets 


'SHE  INLAND  PASSAGE  TO  ALASKA.  35 

of  the  Pacific  coast.  Here  I  saw  many  of  the  Kootznahoo 
Indians  of  the  place,  who  do  the  principal  fishing  for 
the  white  men.  Their  already  ugly  faces  were  plastered 
over  with  black,  for  which,  according  to  the  superintend- 
ent, there  were  two  causes.  A  few  of  the  Indians  were 
clad  in  mourning,  to  which  this  artificial  blackness  is  an 
adjunct,  while  the  remainder  followed  the  custom  in 
order  to  protect  their  faces  and  especially  their  eyes 
from  the  intense  glare  of  the  sun  on  the  water  while  fish- 
ing, Chatham  Strait  at  its  northern  end  subdivides 
into  Icy  Straits  and  Lynn  Canal,  the  latter  being  taken 
as  our  course.  At  its  northern  end  it  again  branches 
into  the  Chilkat  and  Chilkoot  Inlets,  the  former  being 
taken ;  and  at  its  head,  the  highest  northing  we  can  reach 
in  this  great  inland  salt-water  river,  our  voyage  on  the 
Victoria  terminated.  Icy  Straits  lead  off  to  the  west- 
ward and  unite  with  the  Pacific,  by  way  of  Cross  Sound, 
the  most  northern  of  these  connecting  passages,  which 
marks  the  point  where  the  archipelago,  and  with  it  the 
inland  passage,  ceases,  for  from  here  northward  to  St. 
Elias  and  beyond  a  bold  bad  coast  faces  the  stormy 
Pacific,  and  along  its  frowning  cliffs  of  rock  and  ice  even 
tne  amphibious  Indian  seldom  ventures. 


CHAPTER  III. 

IN   THE   CHILKAT   COUNTRY. 

HILKAT  country  was  reached  on  the  morn- 
ing of  the  2d  of  June  and  we  droi:)ped  anchor 
in  a  most  picturesque  little  port  called  Pyra- 
mid Harbor,  its  name  being  derived  from  a 
conspicuous  conical  island  that  the  Chilkats 
call  Schlay-hotch,  and  the  few  whites,  Pyra- 

CHILKAT       BRACE-  J  1  T  J 

BfLVER°coiN"°''  mid  Island,  shown  on  page  43.  There  were 
two  salmon  canneries  just  completed,  one  on  each  side 
of  the  inlet,  awaiting  the  "run"  or  coming  of  salmon, 
which  occurred  about  two  weeks  later.  Each  cannery  was 
manned  by  about  a  half  dozen  white  men  as  directors 
and  workmen  in  the  trades  departments,  the  Chilkats 
doing  the  rougher  work,  as  well  as  furnishing  the  fish. 
They  differed  in  no  material  respect  from  the  salmon  can- 
neries of  the  great  Columbia  River,  so  often  described. 
Just  above  them  comes  in  the  Chilkat  river,  with  a  broad 
shallow  mouth,  which,  at  low  water  (sixteen  feet  below 
high  water)  looks  like  a  large  sand  liat  forming  part  of 
the  shores  of  the  harbor.  On  these  bars  the  Indians  spear 
the  salmon  when  the  water  is  just  deep  enough  to  allow 
them  to  wade  around  readily. 

Up  this  Chilkat  river  are  the  different  villages  of  the 
Chilkat  Indians,  one  of  fifteen  or  twenty  houses  being  in 
sight,  on  the  east  bank,  the  largest,  however,  which  con- 
tains four  or  five  times  as  many  houses,  called  Kluk-wan, 


IN  THE  CHILKA  T  CO  UNTR  Y.  37 

being  quite  a  distance  np  the  river.  These  Chilkats  are 
subdivided  into  a  number  of  smaller  clans,  named  after 
the  various  animals,  birds  and  fishes.  At  about  the  time 
of  my  arrival  the  chief  of  the  Crow  clan  had  died,  and  as 
he  was  a  very  important  person,  a  most  sumptuous  fu- 
neral was  expected  to  last  about  a  week  or  ten  days. 
These  funerals  are  nothing  but  a  series  of  feasts,  pro- 
tracted according  to  the  importance  of  the  deceased,  and 
as  they  are  furnished  at  the  exj)ense  of  the  administra- 
tors or  executors  of  the  dead  man' s  estate,  every  Indian 
from  far  and  wide,  full  of  veneration  for  the  dead  and  a 
desire  for  victuals,  congregates  at  the  pleasant  ceremo- 
nies, and  gorges  to  his  utmost,  being  worthless  for  work 
for  another  week  afterward.  As  I  urgently  needed  some 
three  or  four  score  of  these  Indians  to  carry  my  effects 
on  their  backs  aci^pss  the  Alaskan  coast  range  of  mount- 
ains to  the  head  waters  of  the  Yukon  river,  this  pro- 
longed funeral  threatened  seriously  to  prevent  my  getting 
away  in  good  time.  Ranking  me  as  a  chief,  I  was  invited 
to  the  obsequies  and  promised  a  very  conspicuous  posi- 
tion therein,  especially  on  the  last  day  when  the  body 
was  to  be  burned  on  a  huge  funeral  pyre  of  dry 
resinous  woods.  Cremation  is  the  usual  method  of  dis- 
posing of  the  dead  among  these  people,  the  priests  or 
medicine  men  being  the  only  ones  exempt.  The  latter 
claim  a  sort  of  infallibility  and  all  of  their  predictions, 
acts,  and  influences  capable  of  survival,  live  after  them 
so  long  as  their  bodies  exist,  but  should  these  be  lost  by 
drowning,  devouring,  or  cremation,  this  infallibility 
ceases.  Therefore  these  defunct  doctors  of  savage  witch- 
craft inhabit  the  greatest  portion  of  the  few  graveyards 
that  one  sees  scattered  here  and  there  over  the  shores  of 


38  ALONG  ALASKA'S  GREAT  RIVER. 

the  channels  and  inlets  that  penetrate  the  country.  Cre 
mation  is  not  always  resorted  to,  however,  with  the  laity, 
for  whenever  convenience  dictates  otherwise,  they  too 
may  be  buried  in  boxes,  and  this  practice,  I  understand, 
is  becoming  more  common.  Cremation  is  a  savage  honor, 
nevertheless,  and  slaves  were  not  entitled  to  the  rite.  All 
the  Indians  were  extremely  anxious  that  Fshould  attend 
the  obsequies  of  their  dear  departed  friend,  for  if  I  did 
they  saw  that  they  might  also  be  present  and  yet  feel 
sure  of  employment  on  my  expedition  over  the 
mountains.  I  declined  the  invitation,  however,  and 
by  being  a  little  bit  determined  managed  to 
persuade  enough  strong  sturdy  fellows  away  to  do  my 
proposed  packing  in  two  trips  over  the  pass,  which  had 
the  effect  of  inducing  the  others  to  come  forward  in  suf- 
ficient numbers  to  accomplish  the  work  in  a  single  jour- 
ney, and  preparations  were  commenced  accordingly. 
These  preparations  consisted  mostly  in  assorting  our 
effects  with  reference  to  every  thing  that  we  could 
possibly  leave  behind,  taking  as  little  as  we  could 
make  our  way  through  with,  and  putting  that  little  into 
convenient  bags,  boxes,  and  bundles  of  about  one  hund- 
red pounds  each,  that  being  the  maximum  load  the  In- 
dians could  well  carry  over  such  Alpine  trails.  Some 
boys,  eight  or  ten,  even  came  forward  to  solicit  a  share 
in  tlie  arduous  labor,  and  one  little  urchin  of  not  over 
fourteen,  a  son  of  the  Cliilkat  chief.  Shot-rich,  manfully 
assumed  the  responsibility  of  a  sixty-eight  pound  box, 
the  distance  he  had  to  carry  it  being  about  thirty  miles, 
but  thirty  miles  equal  to  any  one  hundred  and  thirty  on 
the  good  roads  of  a  civilized  country.  There  were  a  few- 
slaves  among  my  numerous    Indian  packers,   slavery 


IN  THE  CHILKAT  COUNTRY.  39 

having  once  flourished  extensively  among  the  Chilkats, 
but  having  diminished  both  in  vigor  and  extent,  in 
direct  ratio  to  their  contact  with  the  whites.  Formerly, 
slaves  were  treated  in  the  many  barbarous  ways  common 
to  savage  countries,  sacrificed  at  festivals  and  religious 
ceremonies,  and  kept  at  the  severest  tasks.  They  were 
often  tied  in  huge  leathern  sacks  stretched  at  full 
length  on  the  hard  stony  ground  and  trodden  to  death. 
The  murderers,  great  muscular  men,  would  jump  up  and 
down  on  their  bodies,  singing  a  wild  death  chant,  with 
their  fists  clinched  across  their  breasts,  every  cracking  of 
a  rib  or  bone  being  followed  by  loud  shouts  of  derisive 
laughter.  Sometimes  the  slave  was  bound  to  huge 
bowlders  at  the  water's  edge  at  low  tide,  and  as  the 
retiirning  waves  came  rolling  in  and  slowly  drowned 
the  wretch,  his  cries  were  deafened  by  the  hideous 
shouts  from  the  spectators  on  the  land.  Of  course,  as 
with  all  slave-holders,  an  eye  was  kept  open  toward 
mercenary  views,  and  the  sacrifices  were  nearly  always 
of  the  aged,  infirm,  or  decrepit ;  those  w^ho  had  ceased 
to  be  useful  as  interpreted  by  their  own  savage  ideas 
of  usefulness.  Entering  a  Chilkat  house  nowadays,  one 
can  hardly  distinguish  a  slave  from  the  master,  unless 
one  is  acquainted  with  the  insignificant  variations  in 
dress  which  characterize  them,  and  while  the  slaves  are 
supposed  to  do  all  the  work  the  enforcement  of  the  rule 
appears  to  be  very  lax.  Still  it  is  interesting  to  know 
that  the  fourteenth  amendment  to  the  United  States 
constitution  is  not  held  inviolable  in  all  parts  of  that 
vast  country.  As  among  nearly  all  savages,  the  women 
are  brutalized,  but  they  appear  to  have  one  prerogative 
of  the  most  singular  character,  that  is  well  worth  relat- 


40  ALONG  ALASKA'S  GREAT  RIVER. 

ing.  Nearly  every  tiling  descends  on  the  mother's  side, 
yet  a  chattel  may  be  owned,  or  at  least  controlled,  by  the 
men,  although  a  traveler  will  notice  many  bargains 
wherein  the  woman's  consent  is  first  obtained.  The 
royal  succession  is  most  oddly  managed  with  reference 
to  women's  rights.  The  heir-api^arent  to  the  throne  is 
not  the  oldest  or  any  other  child  of  the  king  and  queen, 
but  is  the  queen's  nearest  blood  relative  of  the  male  per- 
suasion, although  the  relationship  may  be  no  closer,  per- 
haps, than  that  of  cousin.  As  this  curiously  chosen 
king  may  marry  any  woman  of  the  tribe,  it  is  easy  to 
see  that  any  one  may  in  this  indirect  way  become  the  sov- 
ereign of  the  savages,  and  with  the  help  of  luck  alone, 
may  acquire  royal  honors.  One  rich  Indian  woman  of 
Sitka  who  took  a  fancy  to  a  slave,  purchased  him  for  the 
purpose  of  converting  him  into  a  husband,  at  a  cost  of 
nearly  a  thousand  dollars  in  goods  and  chattels,  and  if 
he  was  not  very  expensive  thereafter  he  may  have  been 
cheaper  than  the  usual  run  of  such  bargains.  When  a 
couple  of  Chilkats  tie  the  nuptial  knot,  they  at  once,  if 
possible,  adopt  a  boy  and  a  girl,  although  these  can 
hardly  be  said  to  stand  in  the  i^lace  of  adopted  children, 
when  it  is  understood  that  they  are  really  a  conjugal 
reserve  corps  for  the  bride  and  bridegroom  in  case  of 
deat^i.  Should  the  man  die  the  boy  becomes  the  widow's 
husband  without  further  ceremony,  and  vice  versa.  Of 
course  such  conjugal  mixtures  present  the  most  incon- 
gruous aspects  in  the  matter  of  age,  but  happily  these 
examples  are  infrequent. 

Tliis  Chilkat  country  is  most  thoroughly  Alpine  in 
character,  and  in  the  quiet,  still  evenings,  far  up  on  the 
steep  hillsides,  where  the  dense  spruce  timber  is  broken 


IN  THE  CHILE  AT  COUNTRY.  41 

up  by  natural  clearings,  one  could  often  see  a  brown  or 
black  bear  come  out  and  nose  around  to  get  at  sdme  of 
the  many  roots  and  berries  that  there  abound,  and  more 
than  once  I  was  a  spectator  of  a  bear  hunt,  for  as  soon 
as  Bruin  put  in  an  appearance  there  was  always  some 
Indian  hunter  ambitious  enough  to  toil  up. the  steep 
mountain  sides  after  him.  I  have  spoken  of  their 
extreme  fear  of  the  great  brown  or  cinnamon  bear,  which 
they  seldom  attack.  So  great  indeed  is  the  Chilkats' 
respect  for  him  that  the  most  aristocratic  clan  is  called 
the  Cinnamon  Bears.  Another  high  class  clan  is  the 
Crows,  the  plebeian  divisions  being  the  Wolves  and 
Whales,  and  the  division  line  is  so  strong  that  it  leads 
to  feuds  between  the  clans  that,  in  respect  of  slaughter, 
are  almost  entitled  to  the  name  of  wars,  while  between 
the  high  and  low  caste  intermarriage  is  almost  unknown. 
As  the  Brown  Bears,  or  Cinnamon  Bears  as  they  are  gen- 
erally called,  are  the  highest  clan,  so  copper  is  their  most 
highly  prized  metal.  With  copper  the  Chilkats  have 
always  been  familiar,  gold  and  silver  coming  with  the 
whites ;  and  therefore  a  brown  bear' s  head  carved  in 
copper  is  their  most  venerated  charm.  In  regard  to 
engraving  and  sculpture  it  is  not  too  much  to  say  that 
the  Chilkats  stand  well  in  the  front  rank  of  savage  artists. 
When  civilization  first  came  in  contact  with  these  people 
they  were  in  the  paleolithic  stone  age  of  that  material, 
and  their  carvings  were  marvels  of  design  and  execution, 
although  subserving  the  simplest  wants  of  a  simple 
people.  Of  metals  they  possessed  only  copper,  and  that 
in  such  small  quantities  as  to  be  practically  out  of 
the  account.  With  the  whites  came  gold  and  silver, 
and  the  latter  from  its  comparative  cheapness  became 


42  ALONG  ALASKA'S  GREAT  RIVER. 

their  favorite  metal.  Coins  were  hammered  out  into 
long  slender  bars,  bent  into  bracelets,  and  then  beau- 
tiful ly  engraved,  some  of  their  designs  having  been 
borrowed  from  civilization  and  copied  faithfully  in 
detail,  although  the  old  savage  ideas  of  workmanship 
are  for  obvious  reasons  jjreferred  by  most  purchasers. 
Some  of  their  women  wear  a  dozen  or  more  bracelets 
on  each  arm,  covering  them  up  to  the  elboAvs  and 
beyond,  but  this  seems  to  be  only  a  means  of  preserving 
them  until  the  arrival  of  white  customers,  when  they 
are  sold  at  from  one  to  five  or  six  dollars  a  pair 
according  to  their  width.  The  initial  piece  of  this 
chapter  is  sketched  from  one  in  the  possession  of  the 
author  and  made  by  one  of  his  hired  Indians.  Ear-rings, 
finger-rings,  beads  and  ornamental  combs  for  the  hair 
are  made  of  silver  and  gold,  mostly  of  silver  ;  and  the 
Chilkats  seem  to  be  as  imitative  in  respect  to  ideas 
and  designs  as  the  Mongolians,  whose  talents  are  so  much 
better  known.  It  is  in  wood  and  horn,  however,  that 
their  best  examples  of  this  art  have  been  displayed,  and 
so  unique  and  intricate  are  they  that  language  is  inade- 
quate to  describe  them.  Of  wood  carvings  their  ' '  totem ' ' 
poles  show  the  cleverest  workmanship  and  variety  of 
design.  The  exact  significance  of  these  totem  poles 
remains  still  undetermined,  and  the  natives  themselves 
seem  averse  to  throwing  much  light  on  the  sul)ject. 
This  fact  alone  would  appear  to  indicate  a  superstitious 
origin.  Some  say  the  totem  poles  represent  family 
genealogies,  life  histories,  and  tribal  accounts,  all  of 
which  conjectures  may  be  well  founded.  They  are 
simply  logs  of  wood  standing  on  end  in  front  of  the 
houses,  and  facing  the  water.     This  face  is  covered  from 


IlSr  THE  CHILKAT  COUNTRY. 


43 


top  to  bottom,  for  a  lieiglit  of  from  five  to  thirty  feet, 
with  the  most  curious  carvings,  as  shown  to  a  limited 
extent  on  page  19.  Tlie  "totem"  or  tribal  symbol, 
which  may  be  a  wolf,  a  bear,  a  raven,  or  a  fish,  often 
predominates,  while  representations  of  crouching  human 


PYRAMID    HARBOR,    CHILKAT   INLET. 

(Chilkat  Indian  Canoe  in  the  foreground.) 

figures  are  favorite  designs.  The  making  of  totem  poles 
has  ceased  among  the  Indians,  although  they  carefully 
preserve  those  that  still  exist.  Still  many  of  them  fall 
into  the  clutches  of  white  men  in  compensation  for  a  few 
dollars,  and  hardly  a  museum   of   note  in  the    coun- 


44  ALONG  ALASKA'S  GREAT  RIVER. 

try  but  displays  a  Tlinkit  totem  pole  or  two,  while  some 
possess  extensive  collections.  The  best  carving  is  shown 
in  the  isolated  poles  standing  in  front  of  the  houses,  but 
frequently  the  houses  themselves  are  fantastically  carved 
in  conspicuous  places  to  suit  the  owner's  fancy, 

Some  of  these  houses  are  quite  respectable  for  savage 
housemaking,  the  great  thick  puncheon  planks  of  the 
floor  being  often  quite  well  polished,  or  at  any  rate 
neatly  covered  with  white  sand.  Attempts  at  civilization 
are  made  in  the  larger  and  more  aristocratic  abodes  by 
partitioning  the  huge  hovel  into  rooms  by  means  of  dra- 
peries of  cloth  or  canvas.  In  some  the  door  is  made  as 
high  as  it  can  be  cut  in  the  wall  and  is  reached  by 
steps  from  the  outside,  while  a  similar  flight  inside  gives 
access  to  the  floor.  The  fire  occupies  the  center  of  the 
room,  enough  of  the  floor  being  removed  to  allow  it  to 
be  kindled  directly  on  the  ground,  the  smoke  escaping 
by  a  huge  hole  in  the  roof.  The  vast  majority  of  the 
houses  are  squalid  beyond  measure,  and  the  dense  resin- 
ous smoke  of  the  spruce  and  pine  blackens  the  walls  with 
a  funereal  tinge,  and  fills  the  house  with  an  odor  which, 
when  mingled  with  that  of  decayed  salmon,  makes  one 
feel  like  leaving  his  card  at  the  door  and  passing  on.  It 
takes  no  stretch  of  the  imagination  to  conceive  that  such 
architecture  provides  the  maximum  of  ventilation  when 
least  needed,  and  it  is  a  fact  that  the  winter  hours  of 
the  Chilkats  are  cold  and  cheerless  in  the  extreme.  They 
sit  crouched  around  the  fire  with  their  blankets,  closely 
folded  about  them  and  even  drawn  over  their  heads, 
the  house  serving  indeed  as  a  protection  from  the 
fierce  Avind  and  deep  snow  drifts,  but  no  more. 
They    look    on    all    this    foolishness,    however,    with 


IN  THE  CHILE  AT  COUNTRY.  45 

a  sort  of  Spartan  fortitude  as  necessary  to  toughen 
them  and  inure  them  to  the  rough  climate,  and  at  times, 
impelled  by  this  belief,  they  will  deliberately  expose 
themselves  with  that  object  in  view.  When  the  rivers 
and  lakes  are  frozen  over  the  men  and  boys  break  great 
holes  in  the  ice  and  plunge  in  for  a  limited  swim,  then 
come  out,  and  if  a  bank  of  soft  snow  is  convenient  roll 
around  in  it  like  so  many  polar  bears  ;  and  when  they 
get  so  cold  that  they  can't  tell  the  truth  they  wander 
leisurely  back  to  the  houses  and  remark  that  they  have 
had  a  nice  time,  and  believe  they  have  done  something 
toward  making  themselves  robust  Chilkat  citizens  able 
to  endure  every  thing.  There  is  no  wonder  that  such 
peoi)le  adopt  cremation  ;  and  in  fact  one  interpretation 
of  its  religious  significance  is  based  on  the  idea  of  future 
personal  warmth  in  the  happy  hunting  grounds,  which 
they  regard  as  a  large  island,  whose  shores  are  unattain- 
able except  by  those  whose  bodies  have  been  duly  con- 
sumed by  fire.  Unless  the  rite  of  cremation  has  been 
performed  the  unhappy  shade  shivers  perpetually  in 
outer  frost.  It  is  the  impossibility  of  cremation  which 
makes  death  by  drowning  so  terrible  to  a  Chilkat. 

The  reason  that  the  sJiamans,  or  medicine  men  (whose 
bodies  are  not  cremated)  have  no  such  dread,  is  that  their 
souls  do  not  pass  to  the  celestial  island,  but  are  trans- 
lated into  the  bodies  of  infants,  and  in  this  way  the  crop 
of  medicine  men  never  diminishes,  whatever  may  be  the 
status  of  the  rest  of  the  population.  Dreams  and 
divinations,  or  various  marks  of  the  child' s  hair  or  face, 
are  relied  upon  to  determine  into  which  infant  the 
supreme  and  mysterious  power  of  the  defunct  doctor  of 
Tlinkit  divinity  has  entered.     To  enumerate  all  of  these 


46  ALONG  ALASKA'S  GREAT  RIVER. 

signs  would  consume  more  of  my  space  than  the  subject 
is  worth.  When  a  Chilliat  dies  the  body  is  burned  at 
sunrise,  having  first  been  dressed  for  the  ceremony  in  a 
costume  more  elaborate  than  any  wliich  it  ever  wore  in 
life.  The  corpse  must  not  be  carried  out  at  the  door, 
which  is  deemed  sacred,  a  superstition  very  common 
among  savage  races.  A  few  boards  may  be  taken  from 
the  rear  or  side  of  the  hovel,  or  the  body  may  be  hoisted 
through  the  capacious  chimney  in  the  roof  ;  butwlien  the 
Chilkat  in  his  last  illness  sought  his  house  to  lie  down 
and  die  in  it  he  passed  over  its  threshold  for  the  last 
time.  Demons  and  dark  spirits  hover  around  like  vul- 
tures, and  are  only  kept  out  of  doors  by  the  dreaded 
incantations  of  the  medicine  men,  and  these  may  seize 
the  corpse  as  it  passes  out.  So  fiendishly  eager  are  they 
to  secure  and  stab  their  prey  that  all  that  is  needed  is  to 
lead  out  a  dog  from  the  house,  which  has  been  brought 
into  it  at  night,  when  the  witches  fall  upon  it  and  exhaust 
their  strength  in  attacking  it  before  they  discover  their 
mistake.  The  cremation  is  seldom  x>erfect,  and  the 
charred  bones  and  remnants  are  collected  and  put  into  a 
small  box  standing  on  four  posts  in  the  nearest  graveyard. 
In  the  burial  of  medicine  men,  or  before  cremation  with 
others,  the  bodies  are  bent  into  half  their  length,  the 
knees  draw^n  uj)  to  the  breast  and  secured  by  thongs  and 
lashings. 

A  walk  into  the  woods  around  Chilkat  shows  the 
traveling  to  be  somewhat  better  than  in  equally  mount- 
ainous country  near  the  coast,  and  where  paths  had  been 
cut  through  the  dense  timber  to  the  charcoal  pits  formed 
and  maintained  by  the  canneries,  the  walking  was  ex- 
ceedingly agreeable  and  pleasant,  especially  by  way  of 


IN  THE  CHILKAT  COUNTRY.  47 

contrast.  As  one  recedes  from  the  coast  and  gets  beyond 
the  iniluence  of  the  warm  Japanese  current  with  its 
ceaseless  fogs,  rains  and  precipitation  generally,  the 
woods  and  marshes  become  more  and  more  susceptible 
of  travel,  and  by  the  time  the  Alaska  coast  range  of 
mountains  is  crossed  and  the  interior  reached,  one  finds 
it  but  little  worse  than  the  tangle-woods  and  swamps  of 
lower  latitudes.  The  waters  swarm  with  life,  which  is 
warmed  by  this  heat-bearing  current,  and  I  think  I  do 
not  exaggerate  in  saying  that  Alaska  and  its  numerous 
outlying  islands  will  alone,  in  the  course  of  a  short  time, 
repay  us  annually  more  than  the  original  cost  of  the  great 
territory.  By  means  of  these  industries  the  wedge  has 
begun  to  enter,  and  we  may  hope  it  will  be  driven  home 
by  means  of  a  wise  administration  of  government,  a 
boon  which  has  been  denied  to  Alaska  since  the 
Russians  left  the  territory. 

The  principal  fisheries  will  always  be  those  of  salmon 
and  cod,  since  these  fish  are  most  readily  prepared  for 
export,  while  halibut,  Arctic  smelt  or  candle-fish,  brook 
trout,  flounders  and  other  species  will  give  ample  variety 
for  local  use.  The  salmon  has  long  been  the  staple  fish 
food  of  the  Chilkats,  but  this  is  slowly  giving  way  to 
the  products  of  civilization  which  they  acquire  in  return 
for  services  at  the  canneries  and  for  loading  and  unload- 
ing the  vessels  which  visit  the  port.  Tlie  salmon  season 
is  ushered  in  with  considerable  ceremony  by  the  Chil- 
kats, numerous  festivals  mark  its  success  and  its  close  is 
celebrated  by  other  feasts.  A  Chilkat  villag:e  during  the 
salmon  fishing  season  is  a  busy  place,  Near  the  water, 
loaded  with  the  fish,  their  pink  sides  cut  open  ready  for 
drying,  are  the  scaffoldings,  which  are  built  just  high 


48  ALONG  ALASKA'S  GREAT  RIVER. 

enough  to  j^revent  the  dogs  from  investigating  too 
closely  ;  while  out  in  the  shallow  water  of  the  shoals  or 
rai)ids,  which  often  determine  the  site  of  a  village,  may 
be  seen  fish- weirs  looking  like  stranded  baskets  that  had 
served  their  purpose  elsewhere  and  been  thrown  away  up 
the  stream,  and  which  had  lodged  here  as  they  floated 
down.  ]\fany  of  the  salmon  are  converted  Into  fish-oil, 
which  is  used  by  the  Chilkats  as  food,  and  resembles  a 
cross  between  our  butter  and  the  blubber  of  the  Eskimo. 
Taking  a  canoe  that  is  worn  out,  yet  not  so  badly  dam- 
aged as  not  to  be  comj^letely  water-tight,  it  is  filled  some 
six  to  eight  inches  deep  with  salmon,  over  which  water  is 
poured  until  the  fish  are  well  covered.  This  being  done 
on  the  beach  there  are  always  plenty  of  stones  around, 
and  a  number  of  these  are  heated  to  as  high  a  tempera- 
ture as  possible  in  an  open  fire  alongside  of  the  canoe, 
and  are  then  rapidly  thrown  into  the  water,  bringing 
it  to  a  boiling  heat,  and  cooking  the  mass.  As  the  oil 
of  the  fat  fish  rises  to  the  surface  it  is  skimmed  off  with 
spoons,  and  after  all  has  been  procured  that  it  is  possible 
to  obtain  by  this  means,  the  gelatinous  mass  is  pressed  so 
as  to  get  whatever  remains,  and  all  is  preserved  for  A^  in- 
ter food.  The  salmon  to  be  dried  are  split  open  along  the 
back  until  they  are  as  flat  as  possible,  and  then  the  flesh 
is  split  to  the  skin  in  horizontal  and  vertical  slices  about 
an  inch  to  an  inch  and  a  half  apart,  which  facilitates  the 
drying  process.  Each  little  square  contracts  in  drying 
and  makes  a  convenient  mouthful  for  them  as  they 
scrape  it  from  the  skin  with  their  upper  canine  teeth  like 
a  beaver  peeling  the  bark  from  a  cottonwood  tree.  In 
packing  over  the  Alaska  coast  range  of  mountains,  a  task 
which  keeps  the  Indians  absent  from  three  to  five  days, 


IN  THE  CHILKAT  COUNTRY.  19 

a  single  salmon  and  a  quart  of  flour  are  considered  a  suf- 
ficient ration  per  man  for  even  that  severe  trip.  If  they 
are  working  for  white  men  the  employers  are  supposed 
to  furnish  the  flour  and  the  Indians  the  fish.  While 
these  Tlinkits  of  south-eastern  Alaska,  of  which  the 
Chilkats  and  Chilkoots  are  the  most  dreaded  and  war- 
like band,  are  a  most  jolly,  mirth-making,  and  often- 
times even  hilarious  crowd  of  people,  yet  any  thing  like 
a  practical  joke  j)layed  upon  one  of  them  is  seldom 
appreciated  by  the  recipient  with  the  sheepish  satisfac- 
tion so  common  to  civilization.  An  army  oflacer,  Lieut. 
C.  E.  S.  Wood,  who  spent  some  time  among  them 
sketching  and  drawing  something  besides  his  pay,  relates 
in  the  Century  Magazine  the  story  of  an  Indian  who 
laboriously  crawled  up  on  a  band  of  decoy  ducks  that 
somebody  had  allowed  to  remain  anchored  out  near  the 
water's  edge,  and  wasted  several  rounds  of  ammunition 
on  them  before  he  discovered  his  mistake.  Instead  of 
sneaking  back  into  the  brush,  dodging  through  out-of- 
the-way  by-paths  to  his  home,  and  maintaining  a  con- 
spicuous silence  thereafter,  as  we  of  a  more  civilized 
country  would  have  done  under  like  circumstances,  he 
sought  out  the  owner  of  the  decoys  and  demanded  direct 
and  indirect  damages  for  the  injuries  he  had  suffered  and 
the  ammunition  he  had  wasted,  and  was  met  by  laughter, 
which  only  increased  his  persistency  until  his  demands 
were  satisfied  to  get  rid  of  him. 

At  one  of  the  two  salmon  canneries  of  which  I  have 
spoken  as  being  in  Chilkat  Inlet,  there  was  also  kept  a 
trading  store,  and  here  the  Indians  would  bring  their 
furs  and  peltries  and  barter  for  the  articles  that  were  so 
temptingly  displayed  before  their  eyes  ;  and  if  the  skins 


so  ALONG  ALASKA'S  GREAT  RIVER. 

were  numerous  and  valuable  tins  haggling  would  often 
continue  for  hours,  as  the  Indian  never  counts  time  as 
worth  any  thing  in  his  bargains.  While  we  were  there 
an  Indian  brought  in  a  few  black  fox  skins  to  barter  for 
trading  material,  a  prime  skin  of  this  kind  being  worth 
about  forty  dollars  in  goods  from  the  store,  and  grading 
from  that  down  to  nearly  one-fourth  of  the  amount.  At 
the  time  when  the  Chilkats  learned  the  great  value  of 
the  black  fox  skins,  not  many  years  back,  they  also 
learned,  in  some  unaccountable  way,  the  method  of  mak- 
ing them  to  order  by  staining  the  common  red  fox  or 
cross  fox  skin  by  the  application  of  some  native  form  of 
blacking,  probably  made  from  soot  or  charcoal.  Many 
such  were  disposed  of  before  the  counterfeit  was 
detected,  and  even  after  the  cheat  was  well  known  the 
utmost  vigilance  was  needed  to  prevent  natives  playing 
the  trick  in  times  of  great  business  activity.  The 
method  of  detection  was  simply  to  place  the  skin 
on  any  hard  flat  surface  like  the  counter  of  a  trader's 
store,  and  rub  the  clean  hand  vigorously  and  with 
considerable  pressure  backward  and  forward  over 
the  fur  side  of  the  skin,  when,  if  the  skin  were 
dyed,  the  fact  would  be  shown  by  the  blackened  hand. 
This  fact  had  been  explained  to  us  by  the  trader,  and  the 
Doctor  entering  just  as  the  conversation  as  to  the  i)rice 
became  animated,  and  perceiving  that  the  palmar  sur- 
face of  his  hand  was  well  soiled  and  blackened,  owing 
to  his  having  been  engaged  assorting  packs  for  our 
Indians,  he  playfully  stepped  up  to  the  counter,  ran  his 
hand  jauntily  through  the  skin  once  or  twice  and  dis- 
played to  the  two  traders  his  blackened  palm,  to  the 
surprise  of  the  white  man  and  absolute  consternation 


IN  THE  CHILKAT  COUNTRY  61 

01  the  Indian.  The  former  rapidly  but  unavailingly 
tried  to  verify  the  Doctor's  experiment,  when  the 
latter  broke  out  into  a  hearty  laugh,  in  which  the 
trader  joined.  Not  so  with  the  Indian ;  when  he 
recovered  his  senses  he  was  furious  at  the  imputation  on 
his  character  ;  and  the  best  light  he  could  view  it  in, 
after  all  the  explanations,  was  that  it  had  been  a  con- 
spiracy between  the  two  white  men  to  get  the  skin  at 
low  rates,  and  the  plot  having  failed,  according  to  their 
own  confession,  and  he  himself  having  received  his  own 
price  to  quiet  him,  ought  to  be  satisfied.  The  Doctor 
remarked  as  he  finished  the  story,  that  he  did  not  believe 
there  was  the  remotest  sense  of  humor  among  the  whole 
band  of  Chilkat  or  Chilkoot  Indians.  The  constant  life 
of  the  Tlinkits  in  their  canoes  when  procuring  food  or 
at  other  occupations  on  the  water  has  produced,  in  con- 
formity with  the  doctrine  of  natural  selection  and  the 
survival  of  the  fittest,  a  most  conspicuous  prepondera- 
ting development  of  the  chest  and  upper  limbs  over  the 
lower,  and  their  gait  on  land,  resembling  that  of  aquatic 
birds,  is  scarcely  the  poetry  of  motion  as  we  understand 
it.  The  Chilkats,  however,  are  not  so  confined  to  a  sea- 
faring life,  and  their  long  arduous  trading  journeys  in- 
land have  assisted  to  make  this  physical  characteristic 
much  less  conspicuous  among  them  than  among  other 
tribes  of  Tlinkits,  although  even  the  Chilkats  can  not  be 
called  a  race  of  large  men.  While  they  may  not  com- 
pare with  the  Sioux  or  Cheyennes,  or  a  few  others  that 
might  be  mentioned.,  yet  there  are  scores  of  Indian  tribes 
in  the  United  States  proper  which  are  greatly  inferior  to 
the  Chilkats  both  in  mental,  physical,  and  moral  quali- 
ties.    In  warfare  they  are  as  brave  as  the  average  Indians 


52  ALONG  ALASKA'S  GREAT  RIVER. 

of  the  United  States,  and  have  managed  to  conduct  their 
own  affairs  with  considerable  order,  in  spite  of  govern- 
mental interference  at  times.  I  quote  from  a  correspon- 
dent writing  from  there  as  late  as  August,  1884,  to  the 
JVew  York  Times  of  November  23d  :  ' '  The  Indians  have 
a  great  respect  for  a  man-of-war,  with  its  strict  discipline 
and  busy  steam  launches  that  can  follow  their  canoes  to 
the  remote  creeks  and  hiding  })laces  in  the  islands,  and 
naval  rule  has  been  most  praiseworthy.  The  army  did 
no  good  for  the  country  or  the  natives,  and  its  record  is 
not  a  creditable  one.  The  Tlinkits  sneered  openly  at  the 
land  forces,  and  snapped  their  fingers  at  challenging 
and  forbidding  sentries,  and  paddled  away  at  their 
pleasure." 


CHAPTER  IV. 


OVER  THE   MOUNTAIlSr   PASS. 


the  6tli  of  June  all  of  our 
many  arrangements  for  depart- 
ure were  fully  completed,  and 
the  next  day  the  party  got 
under  way  shortly  before  10 
o'clock  in  the  forenoun.  Mr. 
Carl  Spuhn,  the  Manager  of 
the  North-west  Trading  Com- 
2)any,  which  owned  the  west- 
ern cannery  in  the  Chilkat 
ctiiLKAT  INDIAN  PACKER.  Inlet,  whero  my  party  had 
been  disembarked,  who  had  been  indefatigable  in  his 
efforts  to  assist  me  in  procuring  Indian  packers,  and  in 
many  other  ways  aiding  the  expedition,  now  placed  at 
my  disposal  the  little  steam  launch  of  the  company,  and 
behind  it,  tied  one  to  the  other  by  their  towing  ropes, 
Was  a  long  string  of  from  twelve  to  twenty  canoes,  each 
containing  from  two  to  four  Chilkat  Indians,  our  pros- 
pective packers.  Some  of  the  Indians  wdio  had  selected 
their  packs  carried  them  in  the  canoes,  but  the  bulk  of 
the  material  was  on  the  decks  of  the  steam-launch 
"Louise."  They  disappeared  out  of  sight  in  a  little 
while,  steaming  southward  down  the  Chilkat  Inlet, 
while  with  a  small  party  in  a  row-boat  I  crossed  this 


54  ALONG  ALASKA'S  GREAT  RIVER. 

channel  and  tnen  by  a  good  trail  walked  over  to  the 
Haines  Mission,  in  Chilkoot  Inlet,  presided  over  by  Mr. 
Eugene  S.  Willard  and  his  wife,  with  a  young  lady 
assistant,  Miss  Mathews,  and  maintained  by  tlie  Pres- 
byterian Board  of  Missions  as  a  station  among  the  Chil- 
kat  and  Chilkoot  Indians.  Crossing  the  ' '  mission  trail, ' ' 
as  it  was  called,  we  often  traversed  lanes  in  the  grass,  which 
here  was  fully  five  feet  high,  while,  in  whatever  direction 
the  eye  might  look,  wild  flowers  were  growing  in  the  great- 
est profusion.  Dandelions  as  big  as  asters,  buttercups 
twice  the  usual  size,  and  violets  rivaling  the  products 
of  cultivation  in  lower  latitudes  were  visible  around. 
It  produced  a  singular  and  striking  contrast  to  raise  the 
eyes  from  this  almost  tropical  luxuriance  and  allow 
them  to  resc  on  the  Alpine  hills,  covered,  half  way  down 
their  shaggy  sides,  with  snow  and  glacier  ice,  and  with 
cold  mist  condensed  on  their  crowns.  Mosquitoes  were 
too  plentiful  not  to  be  called  a  prominent  discomfort, 
and  small  gnats  did  much  to  mar  the  otherwise  pleasant 
stroll.  Berries  and  berry  blossoms  grew  in  a  profusion 
and  variety  which  I  have  never  seen  equaled  within 
the  same  limits  in  lower  latitudes.  A  gigantic  nettle 
was  met  with  in  uncomfortable  profusion  when  one 
attempted  to  wander  from  the  beaten  trail.  This 
nettle  has  received  the  appropriate  name  of  "devil- 
sticks;"  and  Mr.  Spuhn  of  the  party  told  me  it  was 
formerly  used  by  the  Indian  medicine-men  as  a  prophy- 
lactic against  witch-craft,  applied  externally,  and  with 
a  vigor  that  would  have  done  credit  to  the  days  of  old 
Salem,  a  custom  which  is  still  kept  up  nmoiig  these 
Indians.  Gardens  have  been  cultivated  upon  this  nar- 
row peninsula,   the  only  comparatively  level  track  of 


OVEB  THE  MOUNTAIN  PASS.  57 

considerable  size  in  all  south-eastern  Alaska,  with  a  suc- 
cess which  speaks  well  for  this  part  of  the  territory  as 
far  as  climate  and  soil  are  concerned,  although  the  ter- 
ribly rough  mountainous  character  of  nearly  all  of  this 
part  of  the  country  will  never  admit  of  any  broad  exper- 
iments in  agriculture.  By  strolling  leisurely  along  and 
stopping  long  enough  to  lunch  under  the  great  cedar 
trees,  while  the  mosquitoes  lunched  off  us,  we  arrived  at 
the  mission  on  Chilkoot  Inlet  just  in  time  to  see  the 
little  launch  in  the  distance  followed  by  its  long  proces- 
sion of  canoes,  heading  for  us  and  puffing  away  as  if  it 
were  towing  the  Great  Eastern.  It  had  gone  down  the 
Chilkat  Inlet  ten  or  twelve  miles  to  the  southward, 
turned  around  the  sharp  cape  of  the  peninsula.  Point 
Seduction,  and  traveled  back  northward,  parallel  to  its 
old  course,  some  twelve  to  fifteen  miles  to  where  we  were 
waiting  for  it,  having  steamed  about  twenty-five  miles, 
while  we  had  come  one-fifth  the  distance  to  the  same 
point.  Here  quite  a  number  of  Chilkoot  natives  and 
canoes  were  added  to  the  already  large  throng  ;  Mrs. 
Schwatka,  who  had  accompanied  me  thus  far,  was  left  in 
the  kind  care  of  the  missionary  family  of  Mr.  Willard  ; 
adieus  were  waved  and  we  once  more  took  our  north- 
ward course  up  the  Chilkoot  Inlet. 

After  four  or  five  miles  the  main  inlet  bears  off  to  the 
westward,  but  a  much  narrower  one  still  points  con- 
stantly to  the  north  star,  and  up  the  latter  we  continued 
to  steam.  It  is  called  the  Dayay  Inlet  and  gives  us 
about  ten  miles  of  ' '  straight-away  course  ' '  before  coming 
to  the  mouth  of  the  river  of  the  same  name.  This  Dayay 
Inlet  is  of  the  same  general  character  as  the  inland  pas- 
sages in  this  part  of  Alaska,  of  which  I  have  already 


58  ALONG  ALASKA'S  GREAT  RIVER. 

spoken  ;  a  river-like  channel  between  high  steep  hills, 
which  are  covered  with  pine,  cedar  and  spruce  from  the 
water's  line  nearly  to  the  top,  and  there  capped  with 
bare  granite  crowns  that  in  gulches  and  on  the  summits 
are  covered  with  snow  and  glacier  ice,  which  in  melting 
furnish  water  for  innumerable  beautiful  cascades  and 
mountain  torrents,  many  of  them  dashing  from  such 
dizzy  precipitous  heights  that  they  are  reduced  to 
masses  of  iridescent  spray  by  the  time  they  reach  the 
deep  green  waters  of  the  inlet. 

With  a  score  of  canoes  towing  behind,  the  ropes  near 
the  launch  kej)t  parting  so  often  that  we  were  consider- 
ably delayed,  and  as  the  Indians  were  seldom  in  any 
great  hurry  about  repairing  the  damages,  and  treated  it 
in  a  most  hilarious  manner  as  something  of  a  joke  on 
the  launch,  the  master  of  that  craft,  when  the  rope  had 
parted  near  the  central  canoe  for  about  the  twentieth 
time,  finally  bore  on  without  them,  leaving  the  delin- 
quents to  get  along  as  best  they  could,  there  being  about 
five  miles  more  to  make.  Fortunately  just  then  a  fair 
southern  breeze  sprang  up,  so  that  most  of  the  tardy 
canoes  soon  displayed  canvas,  and  those  that  could  not, 
hastily  improvised  a  blanket,  a  pea-jacket,  or  even  a 
a  broad-shouldered  pair  of  pantaloons,  to  aid  their  prog- 
ress, for  the  Indian  in  all  sections  of  the  country  is 
much  more  ingenious  than  one  is  apt  to  suppose,  espe- 
cially if  his  object  be  to  save  manual  labor.  The  mouth 
of  the  Dayay  river  being  reached  about  six  in  the  after- 
noon, it  was  found  to  consist  of  a  series  of  low  swampy 
mud  flats  and  a  very  miry  delta.  Here  it  is  necessary 
to  ascend  the  swift  river  at  least  a  mile  to  find  a  site 
that  is  even  half  suitable  for  a  camp.     During;  the  time 


OVER  THE  MOUNTAIN  PASS.  59 

when  the  greatest  sediment  is  brought  down  by  the  swift 
muddy  stream,  i.  e. ,  during  the  spring  freshets  and  sum- 
mer high  water,  the  winds  are  usually  from  the  south, 
and  blow  with  considerable  force,  which  fact  accounts 
for  the  presence  of  soft  oozy  deposits  of  great  extent  so 
near  the  mouth  of  the  stream.  Through  this  shallow 
water  the  canoes  carried  our  effects.  The  river  once 
reached  the  canoes  proceeded  up  the  stream  to  camp,  the 
launch  whistled  us  adieu,  and  as  she  faded  from  sight, 
the  last  link  that  bound  us  to  civilization  was  snapped, 
and  our  exj)lorations  commenced.  The  distance  from 
the  Haines'  Mission  to  the  mouth  of  the  Dayay  where  we 
disembarked  was  sixteen  miles. 

At  this  camp  No.  2,  we  found  a  small  camp  of  wander- 
ing TahJc-Tieesli  Indians,  or  as  they  are  locally  called  by 
the  few  whites  of  the  country,  the  Sticks,  a  peaceful 
tribe  whose  home  is  over  the  Alaskan  coast  range  of 
mountains  and  along  the  head-waters  of  the  great 
Yukon,  the  very  part  of  the  very  stream  we  desired  to 
explore.  It  has  only  been  within  the  last  few  years  that 
these  Tahk-heesh  Indians  have  been  allowed  to  cross 
over  the  mountains  into  the  Chilkat  country  for  purposes 
of  trade,  the  Chilkats  and  Chilkoots  united  having  from 
time  immemorial  completely  monopolized  the  profitable 
commerce  of  the  interior  fur  trade,  forbidding  ingress  to 
the  whites  and  denying  egress  to  the  Indians  of  the 
interior.  From  the  former  they  bought  their  trading 
goods  and  trinkets,  and  making  them  into  convenient 
bundles  or  parcels  of  about  one  hundred  pounds  each, 
they  carried  them  on  their  backs  across  the  snow  and 
glacier  crowned  mountains,  exchanging  them  for  furs 
with  the  tribes  of  the  interior  for  many  hundreds  of 


60  ALONG  ALASKA'S  GREAT  RIVER. 

miles  around.  These  furs  were  again  lashed  in  packs 
and  carried  back  over  the  same  perilous  paths  to  the  cof- 
fers of  the  white  traders,  and  although  they  realized  but 
a  small  fractional  portion  of  their  value,  yet  prices  were 
large  in  comparison  with  the  trilling  cost  to  the  venders. 
When  the  trade  was  at  its  best  many  years  ago,  these 
trips  were  often  made  twice  a  year  during  the  spring  and 
summer,  and  so  great  was  the  commerce  in  those  days, 
that  no  less  than  from  eight  to  ten  tons  of  trading  material 
found  its  way  into  the  interior  by  way  of  these  Alpine 
passes,  and  was  exchanged  for  its  equivalent  in  furs.  As 
a  consequence,  the  Chilkat  nation  is  the  richest  tribe  of 
Indians  in  the  great  North-west.  Their  chief,  Shot-rich, 
alone  is  worth  about  ten  or  twelve  thousand  dollars  in 
blankets,  their  standard  of  wealth,  and  others  in  propor- 
tion, according  to  their  energy  in  the  trade.  Shot-rich 
has  three  large  native  houses  at  Klukwan,  the  main 
Chilkat  town,  two  of  which  are  filled  with  blankets  worth 
from  two  to  four  dollars  apiece.  The  trail  on  which  we 
were  now  plodding  along  is  knowTi  among  the  Indians  as 
the  Chilkoot  trail  to  the  interior,  and  takes  from  two  to 
four  days,  packing  their  goods  on  their  backs,  until  the 
headwaters  of-  the  Yukon  are  reached.  It  was  monopo- 
lized solely  by  the  Chilkoots,  who  had  even  gone  so  far 
as  to  forbid  the  Chilkats,  almost  brothers  in  blood,  from 
using  it,  so  that  the  latter  were  forced  to  take  a  longer 
and  far  more  laborious  route.  This  route  of  the  Chilkats 
led  them  up  the  Chilkat  River  to  near  its  head,  where  a 
long  mountain  trail  that  gave  them  a  journey  of  a  week 
or  ten  days,  packing  on  their  backs,  brought  them  to  a 
tributary  of  the  Yukon,  by  means  of  which  the  interior 
was  gained.     Once  on  this  tributary  no  serious  rapids  or 


OVER  THE  MOUNTAIN  PASS.  61 

other  impediments  were  in  their  line  of  travel,  v^hile  the 
Yukon,  with  its  shorter  trail,  had  many  such  obstacles. 
The  great  Hudson  Bay  Com^Dany  with  its  well-known 
indomitable  courage,  attemj^ted  as  early  as  1850  to  tap 
this  rich  trading  district  monopolized  by  the  Chilkat 
Indians,  and  Fort  Selkirk  was  established  at  the  junc- 
tion of  the  Yukon  and  Pelly,  but  so  far  away  from  their 
main  base  of  supiDlies  on  Hudson's  Bay,  that  it  is  said  it 
took  them  a  couple  of  years  to  reach  it  with  trading 
effects.  The  Indians  knew  of  but  one  method  of  compe- 
tition in  business.  They  went  into  no  intricate  inventories 
for  reducing  prices  of  stock,  nor  did  they  put  bigger 
advertisements  or  superior  inducements  before  their  cus- 
tomers. They  simply  organized  a  war  party,  rapidly 
descended  the  main  Yukon  for  about  five  hundred  miles, 
burned  the  buildings  and  ai)propriated  the  goods. 

As  the  Tahk-heesh  oySUcJcs  were  allowed  to  come  abroad 
so  the  white  men  were  allowed  and,  in  fact,  induced  to 
enter,  for  the  coast  Indians  found  ample  compensation  in 
carrying  the  white  men' s  goods  over  the  trail  of  about 
thirty  miles  at  a  rate  which  brought  them  from  ten  to 
twelve  dollars  per  pack  of  a  hundred  pounds  in  weight ; 
and  it  was  my  intention  to  take  advantage  of  this  oppor- 
tunity to  reach  the  head  of  the  river,  and  then  fight  my 
way  down  it,  rather  than  against  its  well  known  rapid 
current,  of  which  I  had  heard  so  much  from  the  accounts 
of  explorers  on  its  lower  waters.  When  it  was  known, 
however,  that  I  expected  to  do  my  explorations  on  a  raft, 
the  idea  was  laughed  at  by  the  few  white  men  of  the 
country,  as  evincing  the  extreme  of  ignorance,  and  the 
Indians  seemed  to  be  but  little  behind  them  in  ridicule 
of  the  plan.     The  latter  emphatically  affirmed  that  a 


«S  ALONG  ALASKA'S  GREAT  RIVER. 

hundred  and  fifty  or  two  hundred  miles  of  lakes  stretched 
before  us,  and  what,  they  argued,  can  be  more  helj^less 
than  a  raft  on  a  still  lake  ?  Eight  or  ten  miles  of  boiling 
rapids  occurred  at  various  points  in  the  course  of  the 
stream,  and  these  would  tear  any  raft  into  a  shapeless 
wreck,  while  it  would  be  hard  to  find  Indians  to  portage 
my  numerous  effects  around  them.  The  unwieldiness  of 
a  great  raft — no  small  one  would  serve  for  us  and  our 
stores — in  a  swift  current  was  constantly  pointed  out, 
and  I  must  confess  I  felt  a  little  discouraged  myself  when 
I  summed  up  all  these  reasons.  Why  this  or  the  Chilkat 
route  was  not  attempted  long  ago  by  some  explorer,  who 
might  thereby  have  traversed  the  entire  river  in  a  single 
summer,  instead  of  combating  its  swift  current  from  its 
mouth,  seems  singular  in  the  light  of  the  above  facts, 
and  I  imagine  the  only  explanation  is  that  men  who 
would  place  sufficient  reliance  in  Indian  reports  to  insert 
in  their  maps  the  gross  inaccuracies  that  we  after- 
ward detected,  would  rely  also  upon  the  Indian  reports 
that  from  time  immemorial  have  pronounced  this  part  of 
the  river  to  be  unnavigable  even  for  canoes,  except  for 
short  stretches,  and  as  filled  with  rapids,  canons,  whirl- 
pools and  cascades. 

After  camping  that  night  on  the  Dayay,  bundles  were 
all  assorted  and  assigned.  The  packs  varied  from  thirty- 
six  to  a  hundred  and  thirty-seven  pounds  in  weight,  the 
men  generally  carrying  a  hundred  pounds  and  the  boys 
according  to  their  age  and  strength.  The  "  Sticks  "  or 
Tahk-heesh  Indians  camped  near  us  were  hunting  black 
bear,  which  were  said  to  be  abundant  in  this  locality,  an 
assertion  which  seemed  to  be  verified  by  the  large  num- 
ber of  tracks  w^e  saw  in  the  valley.     From  this  band  of 


OVER  THE  MOUNTAIN  PASS.  68 

Indians  we  completed  our  number  of  packers,  a  circurcfc- 
stance  which  irritated  the  others  greatly,  for  the  Ohilkats 
seem  to  regard  the  Sticks  almost  in  the  light  of  slaves. 
Here  I  also  secured  a  stout,  sturdy  fellow,  at  half  rates, 
merely  to  go  along  in  case  of  sickness  among  my  numer- 
ous retinue,  in  which  event  he  would  be  put  on  full  wages. 
His  onerous  dutes  consisted  in  carrying  the  guidon,  or 
expedition  flag,  weighing  four  or  five  pounds,  and  he 
improvised  himself  into  a  ferry  for  the  white  men  at  the 
numerous  fords  which  the  tortuous  Dayay  River  pre- 
sented as  we  ascended.  As  every  one  gave  him  a  nickel 
or  dime  at  each  ford,  and  the  guidon  staff  was  simply  a 
most  convenient  alpenstock,  he  was  the  envy  of  all  the 
others  as  he  slowly  but  surely  amassed  his  gains  ;  not  so 
slowly  either,  for  the  river  made  so  many  windings  from 
one  side  of  its  high  walled  valley  to  the  other,  that  his 
receipts  rivaled  a  western  railroad  in  the  matter  of  mile- 
age, but  the  locomotion  was  scarcely  as  comfortable  as 
railroad  travel. 

During  the  still,  quiet  evening  we  could  hear  many 
grouse  hooting  in  the  spruce  woods  of  the  hillsides,  this 
time  of  day  seeming  to  be  their  favorite  hour  for  concerts. 
The  weather  on  this,  the  first  day  of  our  trip,  was  splen- 
did, with  a  light  southern  wind  that  went  down  with  the 
sun  and  gave  us  a  few  mist-like  sprinkles  of  rain,  serving 
to  cool  the  air  and  make  slumber  after  our  fatigue  doubly 
agreeable.  The  head  of  canoe  navigation  on  the  Dayay 
river,  where  it  terminates  abruptly  in  a  huge  boiling  cas- 
cade, is  ten  miles  from  the  mouth  of  the  stream,  although 
fully  fifteen  are  traveled  by  the  canoemen  in  ascending 
its  tortuous  course,  which  is  accomplished  by  the  usual 
Indian  method  of  "tracking,"  with  ropes  and  poles  from 


64 


ALONG  ALASKA'S  GREAT  RIVER. 


the  bank  of  the  river.  I  observed  that  they  "  tracked  " 
their  canoes  against  the  current  in  two  ways,  each  method 
requiring  two  men  to  one  canoe.  Tlie  diagrams  given 
will  show  these  methods  ;  .\rx  No.  1,  an 
Indian  pulls  the  canoe  wvAi  a  rope, 
while  a  companion  just  in  .lis  rear  and. 
following  in  his  steps  ke«  ps  the  head 
of  the  canoe  in  the  stream,  n-^th  a  long 
pole,  at  just  such  distance  ^l^  hv>  may 
desire  according  to  the  obstacles  that 
are  presented.  If  the  water  ironi  tXo 
bank  for  some  distance  out,  sxy  twelve 
or  fifteen  feet,  is  clear  of  all  (obstacles, 
his  companion  will  fall  to  the  rear  as 
far  as  his  pole  will  allow  and  assist  the 
ropeman  by  pushing  up  stream,  but 
in  shallow,  swift  places  he  has  all  he 
can  do  to  regulate  the  canoe's  course 
through  the  projecting  stones,  and 
the  l:»urden  of  tlie  draft  falls  on  the 
ropeman.  In  the  other  mode  both  the 
men  use  poles  and  all  the  motive  power 
is  furnished  by  pushing.  The  advan- 
tage over  the  first  is  that  in  "boiling " 
water  full  of  stones,  the  bowman  may 
steer  his  end  clear  of  all  of  these,  only 
to  have  the  seething  waters  throw  the 
stern  against  a  sharj)  corner  of  a  rock 
and  tear  a  hole  in  that  part,  an  accident  which  can  only 
be  avoided  by  placing  a  poleman  at  the  stern.  It  is 
readily  apparent,  how^ever,  that  there  is  much  more 
power  expended  in  this  method  of  making  headway 


X 


OVER  THE  MOUNTAIN  PASS.  67 

against  the  current  than  in  the  other.  Some  few  of  the 
Indians  judiciously  vary  the  two  methods  to  suit  the  cir- 
cumstances. On  long  stretches  of  only  moderately  swift 
water  the  tired  trackers  would  take  turns  in  resting  in  the 
canoe,  using  a  paddle  to  hold  the  bow  out  from  the  shore. 
The  current  of  the  Dayay  is  very  swift,  and  two  days' 
"tracking  "is  often  required  to  traverse  the  navigable 
part  of  the  stream.  Every  few  hundred  yards  or  so  the 
river  needs  to  be  crossed,  wherever  the  timber  on  the 
banks  is  dense,  or  where  the  circuitous  river  cuts  deep 
into  the  high  hillsides  that  form  the  boundaries  of  its 
narrow  valley.  In  these  crossings  from  fifty  to  a  hund- 
red yards  would  often  be  lost.  The  Indians  seemed  to 
make  no  effort  whatever  to  stem  the  swift  current  in 
crossing,  but  pointed  the  canoe  straight  across  for  the 
other  bank  and  paddled  away  as  if  dear  life  depended 
on  the  result. 

The  march  of  the  8th  to  Camp  3,  brought  us  within  a 
half  mile  or  a  mile  of  the  head  of  canoe  navigation  on  the 
river,  and  here  the  Indians  desired  to  camp,  as  at  that 
particular  spot  there  is  no  dry  wood  with  w^hich  to  cook 
their  meals  ;  although  all  they  had  to  cook  was  the  little 
flour  that  I  had  issued,  the  salmon  being  dried  and  eaten 
without  further  preparation.  The  Dayay  Valley  is  well 
wooded  in  its  bottom  with  poplar  and  several  varieties 
of  willow,  and  where  these  small  forests  did  not  exist 
were  endless  ridges  of  sand,  gravel  and  even  huge  bowl- 
ders cutting  across  each  other  at  all  angles,  evidently  the 
work  of  water,  assisted  at  times  by  the  more  powerful 
agency  of  moving  or  stranded  ice.  All  day  we  had  been 
crossing  bear  tracks  of  different  ages,  and  after  camping 
some  of  the  wjiite  men  paddled  across  the  river  (here 


68  ALONG  ALASKA'S  GREAT  RIVER. 

thirty-five  or  forty  yards  wide)  to  take  a  stroll  up  the 
valley  ;  and  while  returning  a  large  black  bear  was  seen 
perched  on  a  conspicuous  granite  ridge  of  the  western 
mountain  wall,  probably  four  hundred  yards  away  and  at 
an  angle  of  twenty  degrees  above  our  position  in  the  rivei 
bottom.  A  member  of  the  party  got  two  shots  at  him, 
but  he  disappeared  in  the  dense  underbrush,  evidently 
afraid  that  the  sportsman  might  aim  at  something  else 
and  so  hit  him.  Dr.  Wilson  and  Mr.  Homan  fished  with 
bait  and  flies  for  a  long  distance  up  and  down  the  differ- 
ent channels  of  the  river,  but  could  not  get  a  single  "rise  '* 
or  "  bite,"  although  the  Indians  catch  mountain  trout  in 
their  peculiar  fish- weirs,  having  offered  us  that  very  day 
a  number  thus  captured.  Like  all  streams  rising  in 
glacier  bearing  lands  of  calcareous  structure,  its  waters 
are  very  white  and  chalky,  which  may  account"  for  the 
apxjarent  reluctance  of  the  fish  to  rise  to  a  fly.  The 
pretty  waterfalls  on  the  sides  of  the  mountains  still  con- 
tinued and  the  glaciers  of  the  summits  became  more 
numerous  and  strongly  marked,  and  descended  nearer  to 
the  bed  of  the  stream. 

I  could  not  but  observe  the  peculiar  manifestations  of 
surprise  characteristic  of  the  Chilkats.  AVhenever  one 
uttered  a  shout  over  some  trifle,  such  as  a  comrade's 
slipping  on  a  slimy  stone  into  the  water,  or  tumbling 
over  the  root  of  a  log,  or  any  mishap,  comical  or  other- 
wise, every  one  within  hearing,  from  two  to  two  hundred, 
would  immediately  chime  in,  and  such  a  cry  would  ensue 
as  to  strike  us  with  astonishment.  This  may  be  repeated 
several  times  in  a  minute,  and  the  abruptness  with  which 
it  would  begin  and  end,  so  that  not  a  single  distinct  voice 
can  be  heard  at  either  beginning  or  ending,  reminds  one 


OVER  THE  MOUNTAIN  PASS.  69 

some  what  of  a  gang  of  coyotes  howling  around  a  frontier 
camp  or  the  bayings  of  Indian  dogs  on  moonlight  sere- 
nades, from  which  one  would  be  strongly  tempted  to 
believe  they  had  borrowed  it.  Withal  they  are  a  most 
happy,  merry-hearted  and  jovial  race,  laughing  hilar- 
iously at  every  thing  with  the  least  shadow  of  comicality 
about  it,  and  ' '  guying ' '  every  trilling  mishap  of  a  com- 
panion in  which  the  sufferer  is  expected  to  join,  just  as 
the  man  who  chases  his  hat  in  a  muddy  street  on  a  windy 
day  must  laugh  with  the  crowd.  Such  characteristics  of 
good  nature  are  generally  supposed  to  be  accompanied 
by  a  generous  disposition,  especially  as  toward  men  of 
the  same  blood,  but  I  was  compelled  to  notice  an  almost 
cruel  piece  of  selfishness  which  tliey  exhibited  in  one 
point,  and  which  told  strongly  against  any  such  theory 
as  applied  to  Indians,  or  at  least  this  j^articular  band  of 
them.  When  we  got  to  the  mouth  of  the  Dayay  river, 
many  of  the  packers  had  no  canoes  in  which  to  track 
their  bundles  or  packs  to  the  head  of  canoe  navigation, 
and  their  companions  who  owned  such  craft  flatly  and 
decisively  refused  to  take  their  packs,  although,  as  far  as 
I  could  see,  it  would  have  caused  them  no  inconvenience 
whatever.  In  many  cases  this  selfishness  was  the  effect 
of  caste,  to  which  I  have  already  alluded  and  which  with 
them  is  carried  to  an  extreme  hardly  equaled  in  the 
social  distinctions  of  any  other  savage  people.  Nor 
was  this  the  only  conspicuous  instance  of  selfishness  dis- 
played. As  I  have  already  said,  the  Dayay  is  very  tor- 
tuous, wide  and  swift,  and  therefore  has  very  few  fords, 
and  these  at  inconvenient  intervals  for  travelers  carry- 
ing a  hundred  pounds  apiece  on  their  backs,  yet  the 
slight  service  of  ferrying  the  packers  and  their  packs 


70  ALONG  ALASKA'S  GREAT  RIVER. 

across  the  stream  was  refused  by  the  canoemen  as  rigidly 
as  the  other  favor,  and  where  the  river  cut  deep  into 
some  high  projecting  bank  of  the  mountain  flanks,  these 
unfortunate  packers  would  be  forced  to  carry  burdens 
up  over  some  precipitous  mountain  spur,  or  at  least  to 
make  a  long  detour  in  search  of  available  fords. 
My  readers  can  rest  assured  that  I  congratulated  myself 
on  having  taken  along  a  spare  packer  in  the  event  of 
sickness  among  my  numerous  throng,  for  even  in  such  a 
case  I  found  them  as  disobliging  and  unaccommodating 
as  before,  utterly  refusing  to  touch  a  sick  man' s  load 
until  he  had  promised  them  the  lion' s  share  of  his  wages 
and  I  had  ratified  the  contract. 

Every  afternoon  or  evening  after  getting  into  camp, 
no  matter  how  fatiguing  the  march  had  been,  as  soon  as 
their  simple  meal  was  cooked  and  consumed,  they  would 
gather  here  and  there  in  little  parties  for  the  purpose  of 
gambling,  and  oftentimes  their  orgies  would  run  far  into 
the  small  hours  of  the  night.  The  gambling  game  which 
they  called  la-liell  was  the  favorite  during  the  trip  over 
tlie  Chilkoot  trail,  although  I  understand  that  they  have 
others  not  so  complicated.  This  game  requires  an  even 
number  of  players,  generally  from  four  to  twelve, 
divided  into  two  parties  which  face  each  other.  These 
"teams "  continue  sitting  about  two  or  three  feet  apart, 
with  their  legs  drawn  up  under  them,  a  la  Turque,  the 
T)lace  selected  being  usually  in  sandy  ground  under 
the  shade  of  a  grove  of  poplar  or  willow  trees.  Each 
man  lays  a  wager  with  the  person  directly  opposite  him, 
with  wliom  alone  he  gambles  as  far  as  the  gain  or  loss  of 
his  stake  is  concerned,  although  such  loss  or  gain  is 
determined  by  the  success  of  the  team  as  a  whole.     In 


OVER  THE  MOUNTAIN  PASS.  71 

otiier  words,  when  a  game  terminates  one  team  of  course 
is  the  winner,  but  each  player  wins  only  the  stake  put 
up  by  his  vis-a-Vls.  A  handful  of  willow  sticks,  three 
or  four  inches  long,  and  from  a  dozen  to  a  score  in  num- 
ber, are  thrust  in  the  sand  or  soft  earth,  between  the  two 
rows  of  squatting  gamblers,  and  by  means  of  these  a  sort 
of  running  record  or  tally  of  the  game  is  kept.  The 
implements  actually  employed  in  gambling  are  merely  a 
couple  of  small  bone-bobbins,  as  shown  on  page  227,  of 
about  the  size  of  a  lady's  pen-knife,  one  of  which  has 
one  or  more  bands  of  black  cut  around  it  near  its  center 
and  is  called  the  king,  the  other  being  pure  white.  At 
the  commencement  of  the  game,  one  of  the  players  picks 
up  the  bone-bobbins,  changes  them  rapidly  from  one 
hand  to  the  other,  sometimes  behind  his  back,  then 
again  under  an  apron  or  hat  resting  on  his  lap,  during 
all  of  which  time  the  whole  assembly  are  singing  in  a 
low  measured  melody  the  words,  "Oh!  oh!  oh!  Oh, 
ker-shoo,  ker-shoo ! — "  which  is  kept  up  with  their 
elbows  flapping  against  their  sides  and  their  heads 
swaying  to  the  tune,  until  some  player  of  the  opposite 
row,  thinking  he  is  inspired,  and  singing  with  unusual 
vehemence,  suddenly  points  out  the  hand  of  the  juggler 
that,  in  his  belief,  contains  "the king."  If  his  guess  is 
correct,  his  team  picks  up  one  of  the  willow  sticks  and 
places  it  on  their  side,  or,  if  the  juggler' steam  has  gained, 
any  one  of  their  sticks  must  be  replaced  in  the  reserve 
at  the  center.  If  he  is  wrong  then,  the  other  side  tallies 
one  in  the  same  way.  The  bone  "  king  and  queen  "  are 
then  handed  to  an  Indian  in  the  other  row,  and  the  same 
performance  repeated,  although  it  may  be  twice  as  long, 
or  half  as  short,  as  no  native  attempts  to  discern  the 


72  ALONG  ALASKA'S  GREAT  RIVER. 

whereabouts  of  the  "  king  "  until  he  feels  he  has  a  revel- 
ation to  that  e^ect,  produced  by  the  incantation.  A 
game  will  last  any  where  from  half  an  hour  to  three  hours. 
Whenever  the  game  is  nearly  concluded  and  one  party 
has  gained  almost  all  the  willow  sticks,  or  at  any  other 
exciting  point  of  the  game,  they  have  methods  of 
"doubling  up"  on  the  wagers,  by  not  exchanging  the 
bobbins  but  holding  both  in  one  hand  or  leaving  one  or 
both  on  the  ground  under  a  hat  or  apron,  and  the 
guesses  are  about  both  and  count  double,  treble  or 
quadruple,  for  loss  or  gain.  They  wager  the  caps  off  their 
heads,  their  shirts  off  their  backs,  and  with  many  of  them 
no  doubt,  their  prospective  jmy  for  the  tri^D  was  all  gone 
before  it  was  half  earned.  Men  and  boys  alike  entered 
the  contest,  and  from  half  a  dozen  places  at  once,  in  the 
woods  near  by,  could  be  heard  the  everlasting  refrain, 
the  never-ceasing  chant  of  "  Oh  !  oh  !  oh  !  Oh  !  ker-shoo, 
ker-shoo  !  "  They  used  also  to  improvise  hats  of  birch- 
bark  (wherever  that  tree  grew  near  the  evening  camp) 
with  pictures  upon  them  that  would  prohibit  their  pass- 
ing through  the  mails.  These  habits  do  not  indicate 
any  great  moral  improvement  thus  far  produced  by  con- 
tact  with  civilization. 

Two  miles  and  a  half  beyond  the  head  of  canoe  navi- 
gation, the  Kut-ldh-cook-ah  River  of  the  Chilkats  comes 
in  from  the  west.  This  is  really  larger  in  volume  and 
width  than  the  Bayay,  the  two  averaging  respectively 
fifty  and  forty  yards  in  width  by  estimation.  I  short- 
ened its  name,  and  called  it  after  Professor  Nourse  of 
the  United  States  Naval  Observatory.  Large  glaciers 
feed  its  sources  by  numerous  waterfalls,  and  its  canon- 
like  bed  is  very  picturesque.     Like  all  such  streams  its 


OVER  THE  MOUNTAIN  PASS.  75 

waters  were  conspicuously  white  and  milk-like,  and  the 
most  diligent  fisherman  was  unrewarded.  At  the  head 
of  the  Nourse  River  the  Indians  say  there  is  a  very  large 
lake.  The  mountains  that  bound  its  course  on  the  west  are 
capped  by  an  immense  glacier,  which  might  be  traced 
along  their  summits  for  probably  ten  or  twelve  miles,  and 
was  then  lost  in  the  lowering  clouds  of  their  icy  crests. 
These  light  fogs  are  frequent  on  warm  days,  when  the 
difference  of  temperature  at  the  upper  and  lower  levels 
is  more  marked,  but  they  disappear  at  night  as  the  tem- 
peratures approach  each  other.  This  glacier,  a  glimpse 
of  which  is  given  on  page  73,  was  named  after  Professor 
Baird,  of  the  Smithsonian  Institute  at  Washington. 
The  march  of  the  9th  of  June  took  us  three  miles  and  a 
half  up  the  Dayay  River,  and  while  resting,  about  noon, 
I  was  astonished  to  hear  the  Indians  declare  this  was 
their  expected  camp  for  the  night,  for  we  had  really 
accomplished  so  little.  I  was  much  inclined  to  anticipate 
that  the  rest  of  the  Journey  was  not  much  worse,  and 
would  give  a  forcible  example  of  the  maxim  that 
"dangers  disappear  as  they  are  approached."  The 
rough  manner  in  which  my  illusions  were  dispelled  will 
appear  further  on.  Another  inducement  to  stop  at  this 
particular  point  was  found  in  a  small  grove  of  spruce 
saplings  just  across  the  river,  which  was  so  dense  that 
each  tree  trunk  tapered  as  regularly  as  if  it  had  been 
turned  from  a  lathe.  These  they  desired  for  salmon- 
spears,  cutting  them  on  their  way  over  the  trail,  and  col- 
lecting them  as  they  returned,  so  as  to  give  the  poles  a 
few  days  to  season,  thus  rendering  them  lighter  for  the 
dextrous  work  required.  These  peculiar  kinds  of  fish- 
spears  are  so  common  over  all  the  districts  of  Arctic  and 


76 


ALONG  ALASKA'S  GREAT  RIVER. 


sub- Arctic  America  that  I  think  them  worthy  of  descrip- 
tion. The  pole  is  from  eight  to  twelve  feet  in  length, 
extending  fi-om  P  to  P,  as  shown  in  the  figure  on 
this  page.     Two  arms  A  A  are  made  of  elastic  wood,  and 

at  their  ends  they  carry  in- 
curved spikes  of  iron  or  steel, 
S  S,  which  act  as  barbs  on  a 
fish-hook.  Another  sharpened 
spike  projects  from  the  tip  of 
the  pole  P,  and  the  three  to- 
gether make  the  prongs  of  the 
spear  or  gig.  When  the  fish  is 
speared  the  arms  A  A  bend  out 
as  the  spikes  "ride"  over  its 
back,  and  these  insert  them- 
selves in  its  sides,  the  pole  spike 
penetrating  its  back.  In  the 
figure  there  is  represented  the 
cross-section  of  a  fish  (its  dorsal- 
lin  D)  just  before  the  speai 
strikes.  Among  the  Eskimo  of 
King  William's  Jjand  I  found 
the  spear  -  handles  made  of 
driftwood  thrown  on  the  beach, 
the  arms  A  A  made  of  very 
elastic  musk-ox  horn,  and  the 
spikes  of  copper  taken  from  the 
abandoned  ships  of  Sir  John  Franklin's  ill-fated  ex- 
pedition. Again  at  this  camp  (No.  4),  the  fishing-tackle 
of  various  kinds  was  employed  vigilantly,  but  although 
the  water  seemed  much  clearer  there  were  no  results,  the 
doctor    advancing  the  theory  that  trout  will  not  rise 


Ui     >• 


2.  21 

g  El 

g  <i 

a.  ^ 


Ed 
O 


OVER  THE  MOUNTAIN  PASS.  79 

to  a  fly  in  streams  where  salmon  are  spawning,  as  they 
then  live  on  the  salmon  roe  to  the  exclusion  of  every 
thing  else. 

At  this  camp  I  saw  the  Chilkat  boy  packers  wrestling 
in  a  very  singular  manner,  different  from  any  thing  in 
that  branch  of  athletics  with  which  I  am  acquainted. 
The  two  wrestlers  lie  flat  on  their  backs  upon  the  ground 
or  sand  and  against  each  other,  but  head  to  foot,  or  in 
opposite  directions.  Their  inner  legs,  i.  e. ,  those  touching 
their  opponents,  are  raised  high  in  the  air,  carried  past 
each  other,  and  then  locked  together  at  the  knee.  They 
then  rise  to  a  sitting  posture,  or  as  nearly  as  i)ossible, 
and  with  their  nearest  arms  locked  into  a  firm  hold  at 
the  elbows,  the  contest  commences.  It  evidently  requires 
no  mean  amount  of  strength  to  get  on  top  of  an  equal 
adversary,  and  the  game  seems  to  demand  considerable 
agility,  although  the  efforts  of  the  contestants,  as  they 
rolled  around  like  two  angle  worms  tied  together,  ap- 
peared more  awkward  than  graceful. 

Northward  from  this  camp  (No.  4),  lying  between  the 
Nourse  and  Dayay  Rivers,  was  the  southern  terminal 
spur  of  a  large  glacier,  whose  upper  end  was  lost  in  the 
cold  drifting  fog  that  clung  to  it,  and  which  can  be  seen 
on  page  77.  I  called  it  the  Saussure  Glacier,  after 
Professor  Henri  de  Saussure,  of  Geneva,  Switzerland, 
The  travels  in  the  Dayay  Inlet  and  up  the  valley  of  the 
river  had  been  reasonably  pleasant,  but  on  the  10th  of 
June  our  course  lay  over  the  rough  mountain  spurs  of 
the  east  side  for  ten  or  twelve  miles,  upon  a  trail  fully 
equal  to  forty  or  fifty  miles  over  a  good  road  for  a  day's 
walking.  Short  as  the  march  was  in  actual  measurement, 
it  consumed  from  7:30  in  the  morning  until  7:15  in  the 


80 


ALONG  ALASKA'S  GREAT  RIVER. 


evening  ;  nearly  lialf  the  time,  however,  being  occupitea. 
in  resting  from  the  extreme  fatigue  of  the  journey.  In 
fact,  in  many  places  it  was  a  terrible  scramble  up  and 
dowii  hill,  over  huge  trunks  and  bristling  limbs  of  fallen 
timber  too  far  apart  to  leap  from  one  to  the  other,  while 
between  was  a  boggy  swamp  that  did  not  increase  the 
pleasure  of  carrying  a  hundred  pounds  on  one's  back. 
Sometimes  we  would  sink  in  almost  to  our  knees,  while 
every  now  and  then  this  agony  was  supplemented  by  the 
recurrences  of  long  high  ridges  of  rough  bowlders  of 
trachyte  with  a  splintery  fracture.  The  latter  felt  like 
hot  iron  under  the  wet  moccasins  after  walking  on  them 
and  jumping  from  one  to  the  other  for  awhile.  Some  of 
these  great  ridges  of  bowlders  on  the  steep  hillsides  must 
have  been  of  quite  recent  origin,  and  from  the  size  of  the 

big  rocks,  often 
ten  or  twelve 
feet  in  diameter, 
I  infer  that  the 
force  employed 
must  have  been 
enormous,  and  I 
could  only  ac- 
count for  it  on  the  theory  that  ice  had  been  an  im- 
portant agent  in  the  result.  So  recent  were  some  of 
the  ridges  that  trees  thirty  and  forty  feet  high  were 
embedded  in  the  debris,  and  where  they  were  not 
cut  off  and  crushed  by  the  action  of  the  rocks  they  were 
growing  as  if  nothing  had  happened,  although  half  the 
length  of  their  trunks  in  some  cases  was  below  the  tops 
of  the  ridges.  I  hardly  thought  that  any  of  the  trees 
could  be  over  forty  or  fifty  years  old.     AVhere  these 


POSITION    OF    THE    FEET   IN  WALKING  A  LOG, 
AS  PRACTICED  BY  THE  CIIILKAT  INDIANS. 


OVER  THE  MOUNTAIN  PASS.  «1 

ridges  of  great  bowlders  were  very  wide  one  would  bo 
obliged  to  follow  close  behind  some  Indian  packar 
acquainted  with  the  trail,  which  might  easily  be  lost 
before  re-entering  the  brush. 

That  day  I  noticed  that  all  my  Indians,  in  crossing 
logs  over  a  stream,  always  turned  the  toes  of  both  feet  in 
the  same  direction  (to  the  right),  although  they  kept  the 
body  square  to  the  front,  or  nearly  so,  and  each  foot  passed 
the  other  at  every  step,  as  in  ordinary  walking.  The 
advantage  to  be  gained  was  not  obvious  to  the  author ; 
as  the  novice,  in  attempting  it,  feels  much  more  unsafe 
than  in  walking  over  the  log  as  usual.  Nearing  Camp 
5,  we  passed  over  two  or  three  hundred  yards  of  snow 
from  three  to  fifteen  feet  deep.  This  day's  march  of  the 
loth  of  June  brought  us  to  the  head  of  the  Dayay  river 
at  a  place  the  Indians  call  the  "stone-houses."  These 
stone-Jioitses,  however,  are  only  a  loose  mass  of  huge 
bowlders  piled  over  each  other,  projecting  high  above 
the  deep  snow,  and  into  the  cave-like  crevices  the 
natives  crawl  for  protection  whenever  the  snow  has 
buried  all  other  tracts,  or  the  cold  wind  from  the  gla- 
ciers is  too  severe  to  permit  of  sleep  in  the  open.  All 
around  us  was  snow  or  the  clear  blue  ice  of  the  glacier 
fronts,  while  directly  northward,  and  seemingly  impas- 
sable, there  loomed  up  for  nearly  four  thousand  feet  the 
precipitous  pass  through  the  mountains,  a  blank  mass 
of  steep  white,  which  we  were  to  essay  on  the  morrow. 

Shortly  after  camping  I  was  told  that  the  Indians  had 
seen  a  mountain  goat  nearly  on  the  summit  of  the  western 
mountain  wall,  and  I  was  able  to  make  out  his  presence 
with  the  aid  of  field-glasses.  The  Indians  had  detected 
him  with  their  unaided  eyes,  in  spite  of  his  white  coat 


82 


ALONG  ALASKA'S  CfBEAT  RIVER. 


being  against  a  background  of  snow.  Had  the  goat 
been  on  the  summit  of  a  mountain  in  the  moon  I  shouM 
not  have  regarded  him  as  any  safer  than  where  he -was, 
if  the  Indians  were  even  half  as  fatigued  as  I  felt,  and 


CHASING    A    MOUNTAIN    GOAT    IX    THE    PERRIER    TASS. 


they  had  carried  a  hundred  pounds  over  the  trail  and  i 
had  not.  But  the  identity  of  the  goat  was  not  fully 
established  before  an  Indian,  the  only  one  who  carried  a 
gun,  an  old  Hint-lock,  smooth  bore,  Hudson  Bay  mus- 
ket, made  pre])arations  far  the  chasQ.  He  ran  across  the 
valley  and  soon  commenced  the  ascent  of  the  mount- 


OVER  THE  MOUNTAIN  PASS.  88 

ains,  in  a  little  while  almost  disappearing  on  the  white 
sides,  looking  like  a  fly  crawling  over  the  front  of  a 
house.  The  Indian,  a  "Stick,"  Anally  could  be  seen 
above  the  mountain  goat  and  would  have  secured  him, 
but  that  a  little  black  cur  dog  which  had  started  to  fol- 
low him  when  he  was  almost  at  the  summit,  made  its 
appearance  on  the  scene  just  in  time  to  frighten  the  ani- 
mal and  started  him  running  down  the  mountain  side 
toward  the  pass,  the  ' '  Stick ' '  closely  following  in  pur- 
suit, assisted  by  the  dog.  Just  as  every  one  expected 
to  see  the  goat  disappear  through  the  pass,  he  wheeled 
directly  around  and  started  straight  for  the  camp,  pro- 
ducing great  excitement.  Every  one  grabbed  the  first 
gun  he  could  get  his  hands  on  and  waited  for  the  ani- 
Inal's  approach.  A  shot  from  camp  sent  him  flying  up 
the  eastern  mountains,  which  were  higher  than  those  of 
the  west,  closely  followed  almost  to  the  summit  by  the 
Indefatigable  "  Stick,"  who  finally  lost  him.  I  thought 
it  showed  excellent  endurance  for  the  mountain  goat, 
but  the  Indian' s  pluck  was  beyond  all  praise,  and  as  he 
returned  with  a  jovial  shake  of  the  head,  as  if  he  met 
such  disappointments  every  day,  I  felt  sure  that  I  would 
tiot  have  undertaken  his  hunt  for  all  the  goat  meat  in 
the  country,  even  with  starvation  at  hand. 

On  the  morning  of  the  next  day  about  five  o'  clock,  we 
commenced  the  toilsome  ascent  of  this  coast  range  pass, 
called  by  the  Indians  Kotusk  Mountains,  and  by  seven 
o'clock  all  my  long  pack  train  was  strung  up  the  precip- 
itous pass,  making  one  of  the  prettiest  Alpine  sights 
that  I  have  ever  witnessed,  and  as  seen  from  a  distance 
strangely  resembling  a  row  of  bowlders  projecting  from 
the  snow.     Up  banks  almost  perpendicular  they  scram- 


84  ALONG  ALASKA'S  GREAT  RIVER. 

bled  on  their  hands  and  knees,  helping  themselves  by 
every  projecting  rock  and  clump  of  juniper  and  dwarf 
spruce,  not  even  refusing  to  use  their  teeth  on  them  at 
the  worst  places.     Along  the  steep  snow  banks  and  the 
icy  fronts  of  glaciers  steps  were  cut  with  knives,  while 
rough    alpenstocks    from    the    valley  helped  them  to 
maintain  their  footing.     In  some  such  places  the  incline 
was  so  steep  that  those  having  boxes  on  their  backs  cut 
scratches  in  the  icy  crust  with  the  corners  as  they  passed 
along,  and  oftentimes  it  was  possible  to  steady  one's  self 
by  the  open  palm  of  the  hand  resting  against  the  snow. 
In  some  of  these  places  a  single  mis-step,  or  the  caving 
in  of  a  foot-hold  w^ould  have  sent  the  unfortunate  trav- 
eler many  hundred  feet  headlong  to  certain  destruc- 
tion.    Yet  not  the    slightest  accident  happened,   and 
about  ten  o'clock,  almost  exhausted,  we  stood  on  the 
tojD  of  the  pass,  enveloped  in  a  cold  drifting  fog,  4,240 
feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea  (a  small  portion  of  the 
party  having  found  a  lower  crossing  at  4,100  feet  above 
sea-level).      How  these  smaU  Indians,  not  apparently 
averaging  over  one  hundred  and  forty  pounds  in  weight, 
could  carry  one  hundred  pounds  up  such  a  precipitous 
mountain  of  ice  and  snow,   seems    marvelous  beyond 
measure.      One  man  carried  one  hundred  and  thirty- 
seven  pounds,  while  boys  from  twelve  to  fourteen  car- 
ried from  fifty  to  seventy  pounds.      I  called  this  the 
Perrier  Pass  after  Colonel  J.  Perrier  of  the  French  Geo- 
graphical Society. 

Once  on  top  of  the  Pass  the  trail  leads  northward  and 
the  descent  is  very  rapid  for  a  few  hundred  yards  to  a 
lake  of  about  a  hundred  acres  in  extent,  which  was  yet 
frozen  over  and  the  ice  covered  with  snow,  although 


OVER  THE  MOUNTAIN  PASS. 


87 


drainage  from  the  slojDes  had  made  the  snow  very  slushy. 
Over  the  level  tracks  of  snow  many  of  the  Indians  wore 
their  snow-shoes,  which  in  the  ascent  and  steep  descent 
had  been  lashed  to  their  packs.  These  Indians  have  two 
kinds  of  snow-shoes,  a  very  broad  pair  used  while  pack- 
ing, as  with  my  party,  and  a  narrower  and  neater  kind 
employed  while  hunting.  The  two  kinds  are  figured 
below.  This  small  lake,  abruptly  walled  in,  greatly 
resembled  an  extinct  crater,  and  such  it  may  well  have 
been.  From  this  re- 
semblance it  received 
its  name  of  Crater 
Lake,  a  view  of  which 
figures  as  the  frontis- 
piece. Here  there  was 
no  timber,  not  even 
brush,  to  be  seen ; 
while  the  gullies  of  the 
granite  hills,  and  the 
valleys  deeply  covered 
with  snow,  gave  the 
whole  scene  a  decid- 
edly Arctic  appear- 
ance. I  noticed  that 
my  Indian  packers, 
in  following  a  trail  on  snow,  whether  it  was  up  hill,  on 
a  level,  or  even  a  slight  descent,  always  stepped  in  each 
other's  tracks,  and  hence  our  large  party  made  a  trail 
that  at  first  glance  looked  as  if  only  five  or  six  had  passed 
over  ;  but  when  going  down  a  steep  descent,  especially  on 
soft  snow,  each  one  made  his  own  trail,  and  they  scat- 
tered out  over  many  yards  in  width.     I  could  not  but  be 


CHILKAT  HUNTING  AND  PACKING  SNOW- 
SHOES, 

The  usual  thongs  are  used  to  fasten  them  to  the 
feet,  but  are  not  shown  in  the  illustration. 


88  ALONG  ALASKA'S  GREAT  RIVER. 

impressed  with  the  idea  that  this  was  worth  considering 
should  it  ever  be  necessary  to  estimate  their  numbers. 
From  the  little  crater-like  lake  at  the  very  head  of  the 
Yukon,  the  trail  leads  through  a  valley  that  converges  to 
a  gorge  ;  and  while  crossing  the  snow  in  this  ravine  we 
could  hear  the  running  water  gurgling  under  the  snow 
bridge  on  which  we  were  walking.    Further  down  the  lit- 
tle valley,  as  it  opened  at  a  point  where  these  snow- 
arches  were  too  wide  to  support  their  weight,  they  had 
tumbled  into  the  stream,  showing  in  many  places  abut- 
ments of  deep  perpendicular  snow-banks  often  twenty  to 
twenty-five  feet  in  height.     Where  the  river  banks  were 
of  stone  and  perpendicular  the  packers  were  forced  to 
pass  over  the  projecting  abutments  of  snow,  undermined 
by  the  swift  stream.     It  was   hazardous  for  many  to 
attempt  the  passage  over  the  frail  structure  at  the  same 
time.     Passing  by  a  few  small  picturesque  lakes  on  our 
left,  some  still  containing  floating  cakes  of  ice,  we  caught 
sight  of  the  main  lake  in  the  afternoon,  and  in  a  few 
hours  were  upon  its  banks  at  a  point  w  here  a  beautiful 
mountain  stream  came  tumbling  in,  with  enough  swift 
water  to  necessitate  crossing  on  a  log.     Near  the  Crater 
Lake  a  curlew  and  a  swallow  were  seen,  and  a  small  black 
bear  cub    was  the    only    other    living    thing  visible, 
although  mountain  goats  were  abundant  a  short  distance 
back  in  the  high  hills.     We  had  gotten  into  camp  quite 
late  in  the  evening  and  here  the  contracts  with  our  Indian 
packers  expired. 

Imagine  my  surprise,  after  a  fatiguing  march  of  thir- 
teen miles  that  had  required  fourteen  hours  to  accom- 
plish, and  was  fully  equal  to  forty  or  fifty  on  any  good 
road,  at  having  the  majority  of  my  packers,  men    and 


OVER  THE  MOUNTAIN  PASS.  89 

boys,  demand  payment  at  once  with  the  view  of  an 
immediate  return.  Some  of  them  assured  me  they  would 
make  the  mouth  of  the  Dayay  before  stopping,  and  would 
then  only  stay  for  a  short  rest.  It  should  be  remembered 
that  we  were  so  far  north  and  the  sun  so  near  his  north- 
ern solstice  that  it  was  light  enough  even  at  midnight, 
for  traveling  purposes,  especially  on  the  white  snow  of 
the  worst  portion  of  the  journey,  Perrier  Pass.  I  had 
no  reason  to  doubt  their  assurances,  and  afterward 
learned  that  one  of  them  went  through  to  the  mission 
without  stopping,  in  spite  of  a  furious  gale  which  was 
raging  on  the  Dayay  and  Chilkoot  Inlets. 


CHAPTER  V. 


ALONG  THE  LAKES. 


large  lake  near  the  head 
of  the  Yukon  I  named  in 
honor  of  Dr.  Lindeman, 
of  the  Bremen  Geographi- 
cal Society.  The  country 
IN  A  STORM  ON  THE  LAKES.  thus   far,  iucluding   the 

lake,  had  already  received  a  most  thorough  exploration  at 
the  hands  of  Dr.  Aurel  Krause  and  Dr,  Arthur  Krause, 
two  German  scientists,  heretofore  sent  out  by  the  above 
named  society,  but  I  was  not  aware  of  the  fact  at  that 
time.  Looking  out  upon  Lake  Lindeman  a  most  beauti- 
ful Alpine-like  sheet  of  water  was  presented  to  our  view. 
The  scene  was  made  more  picturesque  by  the  mountain 
creek,  of  which  I  have  spoken,  and  over  which  a  green 
willow  tree  was  supposed  to  do  duty  as  a  foot-log.  My 
first  attempt  to  pass  over  this  tree  caused  it  to  sink  down 
into  the  rushing  waters  and  was  much  more  interesting 
to  the  spectators  than  to  me.  Lake  Lindeman  is  about 
ten  miles  long,  and  from  one  to  one  and  a-half  Avide,  and 
in  appearance  is  not  unlike  a  portion  of  one  of  the  broad 
inland  passages  of  south-eastern  Alaska  already 
described.  Fish  were  absent  from  these  glacier-fed 
streams  and  lakes,  or  at  least  they  were  not  to  be  enticed 
by  any  of  the  standard  allurements  of  the  fishermen's 


ALONG  THE  LAKES.  91 

wiles,  but  we  managed  to  kill  a  few  dusky  grouse  and 
green-winged  teal  ducks  to  vary  the  usual  government 
ration  ;  though  all  were  tough  beyond  measure,  it  being 
so  near  their  breeding  season. 

Over  the  lake,  on  quiet  days,  were  seen  many  gulls, 
and  the  graceful  little  Arctic  tern,  which  I  recognized  as 
an  old  companion  on  the  Atlantic  side.  A  ramble  among 
the  woods  next  day  to  search  for  raft  timber  revealed  a 
number  of  bear,  caribou  and  other  game  tracks,  but 
nothing  could  be  seen  of  their  authors.  A  small  flock 
of  pretty  liarlequin  ducks  gave  us  a  long  but  unsuccess- 
ful shot.  The  lakes  of  the  interior,  of  which  there  were 
many,  bordered  by  swampy  tracts,  supplied  Roth,  our 
cook,  with  a  couple  of  green-winged  teal,  duck  and  drake, 
as  the  reward  of  a  late  evening  stroll,  for,  as  I  have  said, 
it  was  light  enough  at  midnight  to  allow  us  to  shoot,  at 
any  rate  with  a  shot-gun. 

While  the  lakes  were  in  many  places  bordered  with 
swampy  tracts,  the  land  away  from  them  was  quite  pas- 
sable for  walking,  the  great  obstacle  being  the  large 
amount  of  fallen  timber  that  covered  the  ground  in  all 
directions.  The  area  of  bog,  ubiquitous  beyond  the 
Kotusk  range,  was  now  confined  to  the  shores  of  the  lakes 
and  to  streams  emerging  from  or  emptying  into  them, 
and  while  these  were  numerous  enough  to  a  person  desir- 
ing to  hold  a  straight  course  for  a  considerable  distance, 
the  walking  was  bearable  compared  with  previous  experi- 
ence. 

Two  of  the  Talik-Tieesfi  or  "  Stick"  Indians,  who  had 
come  with  us  as  packers,  had  stored  away  in  this  vicinity 
under  the  willows  of  the  lake's  beach,  a  couple  of  the 
most  dilapidated  looking  craft  that  ever  were  seen.     To 


92  ALONG  ALASKA'S  GREAT  RIVER. 

call  tliem  canoes,  indeed,  was  a  strain  upon  our  con- 
sciences. The  only  theory  to  account  for  their  keeping 
afloat  at  all  was  that  of  the  Irishman  in  the  story,  "  that 
for  every  hole  where  the  water  could  come  in  there  were 
a  half  a  dozen  where  it  could  run  out."  These  canoes  are 
made  of  a  species  of  poplar,  and  are  generally  called 
"  Cottonwood  canoes;"  and  as  the  trees  from  which  they 
are  made  are  not  very  large,  the  material  "  runs  out"  so 
to  speak,  along  the  waist  or  middle  of  the  canoe,  where  a 
greater  quantity  is  required  to  reach  around,  and  this 
deficiency  is  made  up  by  substituting  batten-like  strips  of 
thin  wood  tacked  or  sewed  on  as  gunwales,  and  calking 
the  crevices  well  with  gum.  At  bow  and  stern  some  rude 
attempt  is  made  to  warp  them  into  canoe  lines,  and  in 
doing  this  many  cracks  are  developed,  all  of  which  are 
smeared  with  spruce  gum.  The  thin  bottom  is  a  perfect 
gridiron  of  slits,  all  closed  with  gum,  and  the  proportion 
of  gum  increases  with  the  canoe's  age.  These  were  the 
fragile  craft  that  were  brought  to  me  with  a  tender  to 
transport  my  effects  (nearly  three  tons  besides  the  per- 
sonnel of  the  expedition)  almost  the  v/hole  length  of  the 
lake,  fully  seven  or  eight  miles,  and  the  owners  had  the 
assurance  to  offer  to  do  it  in  two  days.  I  had  no  idea 
how  far  it  was  to  the  northern  end  or  outlet  of  Lake 
Lindeman,  as  I  had  spent  too  many  years  of  my  life 
among  Indians  to  attempt  to  deduce  even  an  approxi- 
mate estimate  from  the  assurances  of  the  two  "  Sticks  " 
that  " it  w\as  just  around  the  point  of  land"  to  which 
they  pointed  and  which  may  have  been  four  or  five  miles 
distant.  I  gave  them,  however,  a  couple  of  loads  of 
material  that  could  be  lost  without  serious  damage, 
weighing  three  hundred  to  four  hundred  pounds,  and  as 


o 
^  B 

a  P^ 
»  I^ 
J?  ^ 

1^  - 
if  n 

g.  o  s 

5'  o  r 

o  'tj  '-^ 

■    •< 

^  "  O 

P  o  ►- 
re    3- 

s.  ™    I- 

^  -  K. 
re  —  C' 
'^    O 

Og. 


n 

o  *i 

«.  p, 

re  W 

O  S 

re  ai 

B  Z 

3  o 

^  3 

.■3  » 


ALONG  THE  LAKES.  95 

f  did  not  know  the  length  of  the  lake  I  thought  I  would 
await  their  return  before  attempting  further  progress. 
Even  if  they  could  accomplish  the  bargain  in  double  the 
time  they  proposed  I  was  quite  willing  to  let  them  pro- 
ceed, as  I  understood  the  outlet  of  the  lake  was  a  narrow 
river  full  of  cascades  and  rocks  through  which,  according 
to  Indian  reports,  no  raft  of  more  than  a  few  logs  could 
possibly  float.  I  did  not  feel  disposed  to  build  a  couple 
of  such  cumbersome  craft  to  traverse  so  short  a  distance. 
A  southern  gale  setting  in  shortly  after  their  departure, 
with  waves  running  on  the  lake  a  foot  or  two  high,  v/as 
too  terrible  a  storm  for  the  rickety  little  boats,  and  we 
did  not  see  any  thing  of  them  or  their  owners  until  tliree 
days  later,  when  the  men  came  creeping  back  overland — 
the  gale  still  raging — to  explain  matters  which  required 
no  explanation. 

In  the  meantime,  having  surmised  the  failure  of  our 
Indian  contractors,  the  best  logs  available,  which  were 
rather  small  ones  of  stunted  spruce  and  contorted  pine, 
had  been  floated  down  the  little  stream  and  had  been 
tracked  up  and  down  along  the  shores  of  the  lake,  and 
a  raft  made  of  the  somewhat  formidable  dimensions  of 
fifteen  by  thirty  feet,  with  an  elevated  deck  amidships. 
The  rope  lashings  used  on  the  loads  of  the  Indian  pack- 
ers were  put  to  duty  in  binding  the  logs  together,  but 
the  greatest  reliance  was  placed  in  stout  wooden  pins 
which  united  them  by  auger  holes  bored  through  both, 
the  logs  being  cut  or  "saddled  out"  where  they  joined, 
as  is  done  at  the  corners  of  log  cabins.  A  deck  was  made 
on  the  corduroy  plan  of  light  seasoned  pine  poles,  and 
high  enough  to  prevent  ordinary  sized  waves  from  wetting 
the  effects,  while  a  pole  was  rigged  by  mortising  it  into 


96  ALONG  ALASKA'S  GREAT  RIVER. 

one  of  tlie  central  logs  at  tlie  bottom  and  supporting  it 
by  four  guy  ropes  from  the  top,  and  from  this  was  sus- 
pended a  wall  tent  as  a  sail,  the  ridge  pole  being  the  yard 
arm,  with  tackling  arranged  to  raise  and  lower  it.  A 
large  bow  and  stern  oar  with  which  to  do  the  steering 
completed  the  rude  craft.  On  the  evening  of  the  14th  of 
June  the  raft  was  finished,  when  we  found  that,  as  a 
number  of  us  had  surmised,  it  was  not  of  sufficient  buoy- 
ancy to  hold  all  our  effects  as  well  as  the  whole  party  of 
whites  and  natives. 

The  next  day  only  three  white  men,  Mr.  Homan,  Mr. 
Mcintosh  and  Corporal  Shircliff,  were  placed  in  charge. 
About  half  the  stores  were  put  on  the  deck,  the  raft 
swung  by  ropes  into  the  swift  current  of  the  stream  so  as 
to  float  it  well  out  into  the  lake,  and  as  the  rude  sail 
was  spread  to  the  increasing  wind,  the  primitive  craft 
commenced  a  journey  that  was  destined  to  measure  over 
thirteen  hundred  miles  before  the  rough  ribs  of  knots 
and  bark  were  laid  to  rest  on  the  great  river,  nearly  half 
a  thousand  miles  of  whose  secrets  were  given  up  to  geo- 
graphical science  through  the  medium  of  her  staunch  and 
trusty  bones.  As  she  slowly  obeyed  her  motive  power, 
the  wind  began  blowing  harder  and  harder,  until  the 
craft  was  pitching  like  a  vessel  laboring  in  an  ocean 
storm  ;  but  despite  this  the  middle  of  the  afternoon  saw 
her  rough  journey  across  tlie  angry  lake  safely  com- 
pleted, and  this  without  any  damage  to  her  load  worth 
noticing.  The  three  men  had  had  an  extremely  hard 
time  of  it,  and  had  been  compelled  to  take  down  their 
wall  tent  sail,  for  when  this  was  lashed  down  over  the 
stores  on  the  deck  to  protect  them  from  the  deluge  of 
flying  spray  breaking  up  over  the  stern  there  was  ample 


ALONG  THE  LAKES.  97 

surface  presented  to  the  furious  gale  to  drive  them  along 
at  a  good  round  pace,  especially  when  near  the  bold 
rocky  shores,  where  all  their  vigilance  and  muscle  were 
needed  to  keep  them  from  being  dashed  to  pieces  in  the 
rolling  breakers.  They  had  started  with  a  half  dozen  or 
so  good  stout  poles,  but  in  using  them  over  the  rocks  on 
the  bottom  one  would  occasionally  cramp  between  a 
couple  of  submerged  stones  and  be  wrested  violently 
from  their  hands  as  the  raft  swept  swiftly  by  before  it 
could  be  extricated.  The  remainder  of  the  perso?inel, 
white  and  native,  scrambled  over  the  rough  precipitous 
mountain  spurs  on  the  eastern  side  of  the  lake,  wading 
through  bog  and  tangled  underbrush,  then  u]}  steep 
slippery  granite  rocks  on  to  the  ridge  tops  bristling  with 
fallen  burned  timber,  or  occasionally  steadying  themselves 
on  some  slight  log  that  crossed  a  deep  canon,  whose  bed 
held  a  rushing  stream  where  nothing  less  than  a  trout 
could  live  for  a  minute,  the  one  common  suffering  every 
where  being  from  the  mosquitoes.  The  rest  of  the  stores 
not  taken  on  the  raft  found  their  way  along  slowly  by 
means  of  the  two  dilapidated  canoes,  previously  described, 
.  in  the  hands  of  our  own  Indians. 

As  we  neared  Camp  7,  at  the  outlet  of  Lake  Linde- 
man,  on  the  overland  trail  we  occasionally  met  with  little 
openings  that  might  be  described  by  an  imaginative  per- 
son as  prairies,  and  for  long  stretches,  that  is,  two  and 
three  hundred  yards,  the  walking  would  really  be  pleas- 
ant. 

An  inspection  of  the  locality  showed  that  the  lake  we 
had  just  passed  was  drained  by  a  small  river  averaging 
from  fifty  to  seventy-five  feet  in  width  and  a  little  over  a 
mile  long.     It  was  for  nearly  the  whole  length  a  repeti- 


98  ALONG  ALASKA'S  GREAT  RIVER. 

tion  of  shallow  rapids,  slioals,  cascades,  ugly-looking 
bowlders,  bars  and  network  of  drift-timber.  At  about 
the  middle  of  its  course  the  worst  cascade  was  split  by  a 
huge  projecting  bowlder,  just  at  a  sudden  bend  of  the 
stream,  and  either  channel  was  barely  large  enough  to 
allow  the  raft  to  pass  if  it  came  end  on,  and  remained  so 
while  going  through,  otherwise  it  would  be  sure  to  jam. 
Through  this  narrow  chute  of  water  the  raft  w^as  "  shot  " 
the  next  day — June  16th — and  although  our  predictions 
were  verified  at  this  cascade,  a  few  minutes'  energetic 
work  sufficed  to  clear  it,  with  the  loss  of  a  side-log  or 
two,  and  all  were  glad  to  see  it  towed  and  anchored 
alongside  the  gravelly  beach  on  the  new  lake,  wdth  so 
little  damage  received.  Here  we  at  once  commenced 
enlarging  its  dimensions  on  a  scale  commensurate  with 
the  carrying  of  our  entire  load,  both  personnel  and 
materiel.  Around  this  unnavigable  and  short  river  the 
Indian  packers  and  traders  portage  their  goods  when 
making  their  way  into  the  interior,  there  being  a  good 
trail  on  the  eastern  side  of  the  stream,  w^hich,  barring  a 
few  sandy  stretches,  connects  the  two  lakes.  I  called 
these  rapids  and  the  portage  Payer  Portage,  after 
Lieutenant  Payer,  of  the  Austro-Hungarian  expedition 
of  1872-74. 

By  the  17th  of  June,  at  midnight,  it  w^as  light  enough 
to  read  print,  of  the  size  of  that  before  my  readers,  and 
so  continued  throughout  the  month,  except  on  very 
cloudy  nights.  Many  bands  of  pretty  harlequin  ducks 
were  noticed  in  the  Payer  Rapids,  which  seemed  to  be 
their  favorite  resort,  the  birds  rarely  appearing  in  the 
lakes,  and  always  near  the  point  at  which  some  swift 
stream  entered  the  smoother  water.     Black  and  brown 


ALONG  THE  LAKES.  99 

bears  and  caribou  tracks  were  seen  in  the  valley  of  a 
small  stream  tliat  here  came  in  from  the  west.  This 
valley  was  £u  most  picturesque  one  as  viewed  from  the 
Payer  Portage  looking  westward,  and  was  quite  typical 
of  the  little  AliDine  valleys  of  this  locality.  I  named  it 
after  Mr.  Homan,  the  topographer  of  the  exi)edition. 
We  were  quite  fortunate  in  finding  a  number  of  fallen 
logs,  sound  and  seasoned,  which  were  much  larger  than 
any  in  our  raft,  the  only  trouble  being  that  they  were 
not  long  enough.  All  of  the  large  trees  tapered  rapidly, 
and  at  the  height  of  twenty  or  twenty-five  feet  a  tree 
was  reduced  to  the  size  of  the  largest  of  its  numer- 
ous limbs,  so  that  it  did  not  offer  surface  enough 
at  the  small  end  to  use  with  safety  as  the  side-log  or 
bottom-log  of  a  well-constructed  craft.  We  soon  had  a 
goodly  number  of  them  sawed  in  proper  lengths,  or,  at 
any  rate,  as  long  as  we  could  get  them,  their  numerous 
limbs  hacked  off,  and  then,  with  much  labor,  we  made 
log- ways  through  the  brush  and  network  of  trunks,  by 
means  of  which  we  plunged  them  into  the  swift  river 
when  they  were  floated  down  to  the  raft's  position.  One 
of  the  delights  of  this  raft-making  was  our  having  to 
stand  a  greater  part  of  the  day  in  ice-water  just  off  the 
mountain  tops,  and  in  strange  contrast  with  this  annoy- 
ance, the  mosquitoes  would  come  buzzing  around  and 
making  work  almost  impossible  by  their  attacks  upon 
our  heads,  while  at  the  same  time  our  feet  would  be 
freezing.  When  the  larger  logs  Avere  secured,  they  were 
built  into  the  raft  on  a  plan  of  fifteen  by  forty  feet :  but, 
taking  into  account  the  projections  outside  of  the  corner 
pins,  the  actual  dimensions  were  sixteen  by  forty-two. 
These  were  never  afterward  changed. 


100  ALONG  ALASKA'S  GREAT  RIVER. 

Tivo  elevated  decks  were  now  constructed,  separated 
by  a  lower  central  space,  where  two  cumbersome  oars 
might  be  rigged,  that  made  it  possible  to  row  the  ponder- 
ous craft  at  the  rate  of  nearly  a  mile  an  hour,  and  these 
side-oars  were  afterward  used  quite  often  to  reach  some 
camping  place  on  the  beach  of  a  lake  when  the  wind  had 
failed  us  or  set  in  ahead.  The  bow  and  stern  steering- 
oars  were  still  retained,  and  we  thus  had  surplus  oars 
for  either  service,  in  case  of  accident,  for  the  two  services 
were  never  employed  at  once  under  any  circumstances. 
There  was  only  one  fault  with  the  new  construction,  and 
that  was  that  none  of  the  logs  extended  the  whole  length 
of  the  raft,  and  the  affair  rather  resembled  a  pair  of 
rafts,  slightly  dove-tailed  at  the  point  of  union,  than  a 
single  raft  of  substantial  build. 

The  new  lake  on  which  we  found  ourselves  was  named 
Lake  Bennett,  after  Mr.  James  Gordon  Bennett,  a  well- 
known  patron  of  American  geographical  research.  While 
we  were  here  a  couple  of  canoes  of  the  same  dilapidated 
kind  as  those  we  saw  on  Lake  Lindeman  came  down 
Lake  Bennett,  holding  twice  as  many  Tahk-heesh  Indians 
who  begged  for  work,  and  whom  we  put  to  use  in 
various  ways.  I  noticed  that  one  of  them  stammered 
considerably,  the  first  Indian  I  ever  met  with  an  impedi- 
ment in  his  speech. 

Among  my  Chilkat  packers  I  also  noticed  one  that 
was  deaf  and  dumb,  and  several  who  were  afflicted  with 
cataract  in  the  eye,  but  none  were  affected  with  the  lat- 
ter disease  to  the  extent  I  had  observed  among  the  Es- 
kimo, with  whom  I  believe  it  is  carsed  by  repeated  at- 
tacks of  snow-blindness. 

On  the  summits  of  high  mountains  to  the  right,  or 


ALONG  THE  LAKES.  103 

eastward  of  Lake  Bennett,  were  tlie  familiar  blue-ice 
glaciers,  but  in  charming  relief  to  tliese  were  the  red 
rocks  and  ridges  that  protruded  amid  them.  Specimens 
of  rocks  very  similar  in  color  were  found  on  the  lake 
beach  and  in  the  terminal  moraines  of  the  little  gi-aciers 
that  came  down  the  gulches,  and  these  having  shown 
iron  as  their  coloring  matter,  I  gave  to  this  bold  range 
the  name  of  the  Iron-capped  Mountains. 

On  the  morning  of  the  19th  of  June  the  constructors 
reported  that  their  work  was  done,  and  the  raft  was  im- 
mediately hauled  in  closer  to  shore,  the  load  put  on  and 
carefully  adjusted  with  reference  to  an  equitable  weight, 
the  bow  and  stern  lines  cast  loose,  and  after  rowing 
through  a  winding  channel  to  get  past  the  shallow  mud- 
flats deposited  by  the  two  streams  which  emptied  them- 
selves near  here,  the  old  wall  tent  was  again  spread  from 
its  ridge-pole,  lashed  to  the  top  of  the  rude  mast,  and 
our  journey  was  resumed. 

The  scenery  along  this  part  of  Lake  Bennett  is  very 
much  like  the  inland  passages  of  Alaska,  except  that 
there  is  much  less  timber  on  the  hills. 

I  had  started  with  four  Chilkat  Indians,  who  were  to 
go  over  the  whole  length  of  the  Yukon  with  me.  One 
of  them  was  always  complaining  of  severe  illness,  with 
such  a  wonderful  adaptation  to  the  amount  of  labor  on 
hand  that  I  discharged  him  at  Lake  Bennett  as  the  only 
method  of  breaking  up  the  coincidence.  The  best  work- 
man among  them  discharged  himself  by  disappearing  with 
a  hatchet  and  an  ax,  and  I  was  left  with  but  two,  neither 
of  whom,  properly  speaking,  could  be  called  a  Chilkat  In- 
dian ;  in  fact  one  was  a  half-breed  Tlinkit  interpreter, 
"  Billy  "  Dickinson  by  name,  whose  mother  had  been  a 


104  ALONG  ALASKA'S  GREAT  RIVER. 

Tsimpsean  Indian  woman  and  whose  father  kept  the 
store  of  the  North-west  Ti-ading  Company  in  Chilkat 
Inlet.  "Billy,"  as  we  always  called  him,  was  a  rather 
good-looking  young  fellow  of  about  twenty-five  years, 
who  understood  the  Tlinkit  language  thoroughly,  but 
had  the  fault  of  nearly  all  interpreters  of  mixed  blood, 
that  when  called  on  for  duty  he  considered  himself  as 
one  of  the  high  contracting  parties  to  the  bargain  to  be 
made  ;  a  sort  of  agent  instead  of  an  interpreter,  and  being 
a  wonderfully  poor  agent  he  became  still  worse  as  an 
interjDreter.  He  was  as  strong  as  two  or  three  or- 
dinary men  of  his  build  and  in  any  sort  of  an  emergency 
with  a  sprinkle  of  dangerous  excitement  about  it  he  put 
all  his  strength  to  use  and  proved  invaluable,  but  in  the 
hum-drum,  monotonous  work  of  the  trip,  such  as  the 
steering  of  the  raft  or  other  continuous  labor,  his  Indian 
nature  came  to  the  front,  and  he  did  every  thing  in  the 
world  on  the  outskirts  of  the  work  required,  but  would 
not  be  brought  do^vn  to  the  main  issue  until  compelled 
to  do  so  by  the  application  of  strong  language.  Our 
other  native  companion  was  named  Indianne,  a  Chilkat 
Tahk-heesh  Indian,  whose  familiarity  with  the  latter 
language,  through  his  mother,  a  Tahk-heesh  squaw, 
made  him  invaluable  to  us  as  an  interpreter  while  in  the 
country  of  this  tribe,  which  stretches  to  the  site  of 
old  Fort  Selkirk  at  the  mouth  of  the  Pelly  River. 
Physically,  Indianne  was  not  all  that  might  be  required 
in  an  Indian,  for  they  are  generally  supposed  to  do  twice 
as  much  out-of-door  work  as  a  white  man,  but  he  was 
well  past  fifty  years  and  such  activity  was  hardly  to  be 
expected  of  him.  Besides  being  a  Tahk-heesh,  or  Stick 
interpreter,  he  was  fairly  familiar  with  the  ground  as  a 


ALONG  THE  LAKES.  105 

guide,  having  traveled  over  parts  of  it  much  oftener 
than  most  Indians,  owing  to  the  demand  for  his  services 
as  an  interpreter  among  the  Sticks.  Through  the  medium 
of  our  two  interpreters,  and  the  knowledge  found  in  each 
tribe  of  the  language  of  their  neighbors,  we  managed  to 
get  along  on  the  river  until  English  and  Russian  were 
again  encountered,  although  we  occasionally  had  to  use 
four  or  five  interpreters  at  once. 

There  was  a  fair  wind  in  our  favor  as  we  started,  but 
it  was  accompanied  with  a  disagreeable  rain  which  made 
things  very  unpleasant,  as  we  had  no  sign  of  a  cover  on 
our  open  boat,  nor  could  we  raise  one  in  a  strong  wind. 
Under  this  wind  we  made  about  a  mile  and  a  half  an 
hour,  and  as  it  kept  slowly  increasing  we  dashed  along 
at  the  noble  rate  of  two  or  two  and  a  half  miles  an  hour. 
This  increasing  wind,  however,  also  had  its  disadvant- 
ages, for  on  long,  unprotected  stretches  of  the  lake  the 
water  was  swelling  into  waves  that  gave  us  no  small 
apprehension  for  our  vessel.  Not  that  we  feared  she 
might  strike  a  rock,  or  spring  a  leak,  but  that  in  her 
peculiar  explorations  she  might  spread  herself  over  the 
lake,  and  her  crew  and  cargo  over  its  bottom.  By  three 
in  the  afternoon  the  waves  were  dashing  high  over  the 
stern,  and  the  raft  having  no  logs  running  its  entire  length, 
was  working  in  the  center  like  an  accordion,  and  with  as 
much  distraction  to  us.  Still  it  was  important  to  take 
advantage  of  every  possible  breath  of  wind  in  the  right 
direction  while  on  the  lakes ;  and  we  held  the  raft 
j'igidly  to  the  north  for  about  two  hours  longer,  at  which 
time  a  perfect  hurricane  was  howling,  the  high  waves 
sweeping  the  rowing  space  so  that  no  one  could  stand  on 
his  feet  in  that  part,  much  less  sit  down  to  the  oars,  and 


106  ALONG  ALASKA'S  GREAT  RIVER. 

as  a  few  of  the  faithful  pins  commenced  snapping,  we 
headed  the  vessel  for  the  eastern  shore  at  as  sharp  an 
angle  as  it  was  possible  to  make  running  before  the 
wind,  and  which  I  do  not  think  was  over  two  points 
of  the  compass,  equal  to  an  angle  of  about  twenty 
degrees. 

This  course  brought  us  in  time  to  a  rough,  rocky  beach 
strewn  with  big  bowlders  along  the  water's  edge,  over 
which  the  waves  were  dashing  in  a  boiling  sheet  of  water 
that  looked  threatening  enough ;  but  a  line  was  gotten 
ashore  tlirough  the  surf  with  the  aid  of  a  canoe,  and 
while  a  number  of  the  crew  kept  the  raft  off  the  rocks 
with  poles,  the  remainder  of  the  party  tracked  it  back 
about  a  half  a  mile  along  the  slippery  stones  of  the 
beach,  to  a  crescent-shaped  cove  sheltered  from  the 
waves  and  wind,  where  it  was  anchored  near  the  beach. 
We  at  once  began  looking  around  for  a  sufficient  number 
of  long  logs  to  run  the  whole  length  of  the  raft,  a  search 
in  which  we  were  conspicuously  successful,  for  the  tim- 
ber skirting  the  little  cove  was  the  largest  and  best 
adajjted  for  raft  repairing  of  any  we  saw  for  many 
hundred  miles  along  the  lakes.  Four  quite  large  trees 
were  found,  and  all  the  next  day,  the  20th,  was  occu- 
pied in  cutting  them  down,  clearing  a  way  for  them 
through  the  timber  to  the  shore  of  the  lake,  and  prying, 
pulling,  and  pushing  them  there,  and  then  incorporating 
them  into  the  raft.  Two  were  used  for  the  side  logs  and 
two  for  the  center,  and  when  we  had  finished  our  task  it 
was  evident  that  a  much  needed  improvement  had  been 
made.  It  was  just  made  in  time,  too,  for  many  of  our 
tools  were  rapidly  going  to  pieces  ;  the  last  auger  had 
slipped  the  nut  that  held  it  in  the  handle,  so  that  it 


ALONG  THE  LAKES.  107 

could  not  be  withdrawn  from  the  logs  to  clear  it  of  the 
shavings,  but  a  small  hand-vise  was  firmly  screwed  on  as 
a  substitute,  and  this  too  lost  its  hold  and  fell  overboard 
on  the  outer  edge  of  the  raft  in  eight  or  ten  feet  of 
water,  and  ice-water  at  that.  A  magnet  of  fair  size  was 
lashed  on  the  end  of  a  long  pole,  and  we  fished  for  the 
invisible  implement,  but  without  avail.  "Billy"  Dick- 
inson, our  half-breed  Chilkat  interpreter,  of  his  own 
free  will  and  accord,  then  stripped  himself  and  dived 
down  into  the  ice-cold  water  and  discovered  that  near 
the  spot  where  it  had  sunk  was  a  precipitous  bank 
of  an  unknown  depth,  down  which  it  had  probably 
rolled,  otherwise  the  magnet  would  have  secured  it. 
Other  means  were  employed  and  we  got  along  with- 
out it. 

The  day  we  spent  in  repairing  the  raft  a  good,  strong, 
steady  wind  from  the  south  kept  us  all  day  in  a  state  of 
perfect  irritation  at  the  loss  of  so  much  good  motive 
power,  but  we  consoled  ourselves  by  observing  that  it 
did  us  one  service  at  least — no  mean  one,  however — in 
keeping  the  mosquitoes  quiet  during  our  labors. 

Across  Lake  Bennett  to  the  north-westward  was  a  very 
prominent  cape,  brought  out  in  bold  relief  by  the  valley 
of  a  picturesque  stream,  which  emptied  itself  just  beyond. 
I  called  it  Prejevalsky  Point  after  the  well-known  Rus- 
sian explorer,  while  the  stream  was  called  Wheaton 
River  after  Brevet  Major-General  Frank  Wheaton,  U.  S. 
Army,  at  the  time  commanding  the  Military  Department 
(of  the  Columbia)  in  which  Alaska  is  comprised,  and 
to  whose  efforts  and  generosity  the  ample  outfit  of  the 
expedition  was  due. 

On  the  21st  we  again  started  early,  with  a  good  breeze 


108  ALONG  ALASKA S  GREAT  RIVER. 

behind  us  that  on  the  long  stretches  gave  us  quite  heavy 
seas,  which  tested  the  raft  very  thoroughly,  and  with  a 
result  much  to  our  satisfaction.  It  no  longer  conformed  to 
the  surface  of  the  long  swelling  waves,  but  remained  rigidly 
intact,  the  helmsman  at  the  steering  oar  getting  consider- 
ably splashed  as  a  consequence.  The  red  rocks  and 
ridges  of  the  ice-covered  mountain  tops  that  I  have  men- 
tioned finally  culminated  in  one  bold,  beetling  pinnacle, 
well  isolated  from  the  rest,  and  quite  noticeable  for 
many  miles  along  the  lake  from  either  direction.  This 
I  named  Eichards'  Rock,  after  Vice-Admiral  Richards, 
of  the  Royal  Navy,  The  country  was  becoming  a  little 
more  open  as  we  neared  the  northern  end  of  Lake  Ben- 
nett, and,  indeed,  more  picturesque  in  its  relief  to  the 
monotonous  grandeur  of  the  mountain  scenery.  Lake 
Bennett  is  thirty  miles  long.  At  its  north- w^estern  ex- 
tremity a  couple  of  streams  disembogue,  forming  a  wide, 
flat  and  cons]3icuous  valley  that,  as  we  approaclied  it,  we 
all  anticipated  would  prove  our  outlet.  Several  well 
marked  conical  buttes  spring  from  this  valley,  and  these 
with  the  distant  mountains  give  it  a  very  picturesque 
appearance,  its  largest  river  being  sixty  to  seventy-five 
yards  wide,  but  quite  shallow.  It  received  the  name  of 
Watson  Valley,  for  Professor  Sereno  Watson,  of  Har- 
vard University. 

About  five  o'clock  the  northern  end  or  outlet  of  the 
lake  was  reached.  As  the  sail  was  lowered,  and  we 
entered  a  river  from  one  hundred  to  two  hundred  yards 
wide,  and  started  forward  at  a  speed  of  three  or  four  miles 
an  hour — a  pace  which  seemed  ten  times  as  fast  as  our 
progress  upon  the  lake,  since,  from  our  proximity  to  the 
shore,  our  relative  motion  was  more  clearly  indicated, 


ALONG  THE  LAKES.  109 

onr  spirits  ascended,  and  the  prospects  of  our  future 
journey  when  we  should  be  rid  of  the  lakes  were  joy- 
fully discussed,  and  the  subject  was  not  exhausted  when 
we  grounded  and  ran  upon  a  mud  flat  that  took  us  two 
hours  of  hard  work  to  get  clear  of.  This  short  stretch  of 
the  draining  river  of  Lake  Bennett,  nearly  two  miles 
long,  is  called  by  the  natives  of  the  country  "  the  place 
where  the  caribou  cross,"  and  appears  on  the  map  as 
Caribou  Crossing. 

At  certain  seasons  of  the  year,  so  the  Tahk-heesh  In- 
dians say,  these  caribou — the  woodland  reindeer — pass 
over  this  part  of  the  river  in  large  numbers  in  their 
migrations  to  the  different  feeding  grounds,  sui3plied 
and  withdrawn  in  turn  by  the  changing  seasons,  and 
ford  its  wide  shallow  current,  passing  backward  and 
forward  through  Watson  Valley.  Unfortunately  for 
our  party  neither  of  these  crossings  occurred  at  this 
time  of  the  year,  although  a  dejected  camp  of  two  Tahk- 
heesh  families  not  far  away  from  ours  (No.  10)  had  a 
very  ancient  reindeer  ham  hanging  in  front  of  their 
brush  tent,  which,  however,  we  did  not  care  to  buy. 
The  numerous  tracks  of  the  animals,  some  apparently  as 
large  as  oxen,  confirmed  the  Indian  stories,  and  as  I 
looked  at  our  skeleton  game  score  and  our  provisions  of 
Government  bacon,  I  wished  sincerely  that  June  w^as  one 
of  the  months  of  the  reindeers'  migration,  and  the  21st 
or  22d  about  the  period  of  its  culmination. 

The  very  few  Indians  living  in  this  part  of  the  coun- 
try— the  "  Sticks  " — subsist  mostly  on  these  animals  and 
on  mountain  goats,  with  now  and  then  a  wandering 
moose,  and  more  frequently  a  black  bear.  One  would 
expect  to  find  such  followers  of  the  chase  the  very  har- 


110  ALONG  ALASKA'S  GREAT  RIVZR. 

diest  of  all  Indians,  in  compliance  with  the  rule  that 
prevails  in  most  countries,  by  which  the  hur  t^r  excels 
the  fisherman,  but  this  does  not  seem  to  be  the  case 
along  this  great  river.  Here,  indeed,  it  appears  that  the 
further  down  the  stream  the  Indian  lives,  and  the  more 
he  subsists  on  fish,  the  hardier,  the  more  robust,  the 
more  self -asserting  and  impudent  he  becomes. 

After  prying  our  raft  off  the  soft  mud  fiat  we  again 
spread  our  sail  for  the  beach  of  the  little  lake  and  went 
Into  camp,  after  having  been  on  the  water  (or  in  it)  foi 
over  thirteen  hours. 

The  country  was  now  decidedly  more  open,  and  it  was 
evident  that  we  were  getting  out  of  the  mountains. 
Many  level  spots  appeared,  the  hills  were  less  steep  and 
the  snow  was  melting  from  their  tops.  Pretty  wild  rose- 
blossoms  were  found  along  the  banks  of  the  beach,  with 
many  wild  onions  with  which  we  stuffed  the  wrought- 
iron  grouse  that  we  killed,  and  altogether  there  was  a 
general  change  of  verdure  for  the  better.  There  were 
even  a  number  of  rheumatic  grasshoppers  which  feebly 
jumped  along  in  the  cold  Alpine  air,  as  if  to  tempt  us  to 
go  fishing,  in  remembrance  of  the  methods  of  our  boy- 
hood's days,  and  in  fact  every  thing  that  we  needed  for 
that  recreation  was  to  be  had  except  the  fish.  Although 
this  lake  (Lake  Nares,  after  Sir  George  Nares)  was  but 
three  or  four  miles  long,  its  eastern  trend  delayed  us 
three  days  before  we  got  a  favorable  wind,  the  banks  not 
being  good  for  tracking  the  raft.  Our  old  friend,  the 
steady  summer  south  wind,  still  continued,  but  was  really 
a  hindrance  to  our  progress  on  an  eastern  course. 
Although  small.  Lake  Nares  was  one  of  the  prettiest  in 
the  lacustrine  chain,  owing  to  the  greater  openness  of 


ALONG  THE  LAKES.  1X1 

country  on  its  banks.  Grand  terraces  stretching  in 
beautiful  symmetry  along  each  side  of  the  lake  plainly 
showed  its  ancient  levels,  these  terraces  reaching  nearly 
to  the  tops  of  the  hills,  and  looking  as  if  some  huge 
giant  had  used  them  as  stairways  over  the  mountains. 
Similar  but  less  conspicuous  terraces  had  been  noticed 
on  the  northern  shores  of  Lake  Bennett. 

Although  we  could  catch  no  fish  while  fishing  with 
bait  or  flies,  yet  a  number  of  trout  lines  put  out  over 
night  in  Lake  Nares  rewarded  us  with  a  large  salmon 
trout,  the  first  fish  we  had  caught  on  the  trip.  I  have 
spoken  of  the  delay  on  this  little  lake  on  account  of  its 
eastward  trend,  and  the  next  lake  kept  up  the  unfavor- 
able course,  and  we  did  not  get  off  this  short  eastern 
stretch  of  ten  or  fifteen  miles  for  five  or  six  days,  so 
bafiling  was  the  wind.  Of  course,  these  i^rotracted 
delays  gave  us  many  chances  for  rambles  around  the 
country,  some  of  which  we  improved. 

Everywhere  we  came  in  contact  with  the  grouse  of 
these  regions,  all  of  them  with  broods  of  varying  num- 
bers, and  while  the  little  chicks  went  scurrying  through 
the  grass  and  brush  in  search  of  a  hiding  place,  the  old 
ones  walked  along  in- front  of  the  intruder,  often  but  a 
few  feet  away,  seemingly  less  devoid  of  fear  than  the 
common  barn  fowls,  although  probably  they  had  never 
heard  a  shot  fired. 

The  Doctor  and  I  sat  down  to  rest  on  a  large  rock  with 
a  perturbed  mother  ^grouse  on  another  not  over  three 
yards  away,  and  we  could  inspect  her  plumage  and  study 
her  actions  as  well  as  if  she  had  been  in  a  cage.  The 
temptation  to  kill  them  was  very  great  after  having  been 
so  long  without  fresh  meat,  a  subsistence  the  appetite 


112 


ALONG  ALASKA'S  GREAT  RIVER. 


loudly  demands  in  the  rough  out-of-door  life  of  an 
explorer.  A  mess  of  them  ruthlessly  destroyed  by  our 
Indian  hunters,  who  had  no  fears  of  the  game  law,  no 
sportsman's  qualms  of  conscience,  nor  in  fact  compassion 
of  any  sort,  lowered  our  desire  to  zero,  for  they  were 
tougher  tlian  leather,  and  as  tasteless  as  shavings  ;  and 
after  that  first  mess  we  were  perfectly  willing  to  allow 
them  all  the  rights  guaranteed  by  the  game  laws  of  lower 

latitudes. 


Quite   a    number   of 
marmots  were  seen  by 
our    Indians,    and  the 
hillsides    were    dotted 
with  their  holes.     The 
Indians  catch  them  for 
fur  and  food  (in  fact, 
every    thing,  living    is 
used  by  the  Indians  for 
the  latter  purpose)  by 
means    of     running 
nooses  put   over  their 
holes,   whicli  choke  the 
little  animal  to  death 
as  he  tries  to  quit  his 
underground  home.     A 
finely  split  raven  quill,  running  the  whole  length  of 
the  rib   of  the  feather,   is  used  for  the  noose  proper 
and   the  instant  this  is  sprung  it  closes  by  its   own 
flexibility.     The  rest  is  a  sinew  string  tied  to  a  bush 
near  the  hole  if   one   be   convenient,   otherwise   to  a 
peg  driven  in  the  ground.    Someti  mes  they  employ  a  little 
of  the  large  amount  of  leisure  time  they  have  on  their 


CABVJKD    PINS  POR   FASTENING   MA 
MOT    SNARES. 


ALONG  THE  LAKES.  113 

hands  in  cutting  these  pegs  into  fanciful  and  totemic 
designs,  although  in  this  respect  the  Sticks,  as  in  every 
thing  else  pertaining  to  the  savage  arts,  are  usually  much 
inferior  to  the  Chilkats  in  these  displays,  and  the  illustra- 
tions give  on  page  112  are  characteristic  rather  of  the  latter 
tribe  than  of  the  former.  Nearly  all  the  blankets  of  this 
Tahk-heesh  tribe  of  Indians  are  made  from  these  marmot 
skins,  and  they  are  exceedingly  light  considering  their 
ivarmth.  Much  of  the  warmth,  however,  is  lost  by  the 
ventilated  condition  in  which  the  wearers  maintain  them, 
as  it  costs  labor  to  mend  them,  but  none  to  sit  around 
and  shiver. 

The  few  Tahk-heesh  who  had  been  camped  near  us  at 
Caribou  Crossing  suddenly  disappeared  the  night  after 
we  camped  on  the  little  lake,  and  as  our  ' '  gum  canoe ' ' 
that  we  towed  along  behind  the  raft  and  used  for  emer- 
gencies, faded  from  view  at  the  same  eclipse,  we  were 
forced  to  associate  the  events  together  and  set  these 
fellows  down  as  subject  to  kleptomania.  Nor  should  I 
be  too  severe  either,  for  the  canoe  had  been  picked  up  by 
us  on  Lake  Lindeman  as  a  vagrant,  and  it  certainly 
looked  the  character  in  every  respect,  therefore  we  could 
not  show  the  clearest  title  in  the  world  to  the  dilapidated 
craft.  It  was  a  very  fortunate  circumstance  that  we  were 
not  worried  for  the  use  of  a  canoe  afterward  until  we 
could  purchase  a  substitute,  although  we  hardly  thought 
such  a  thing  possible  at  the  time,  so  much  had  we  used 
the  one  that  ran  away  with  our  friends. 

The  23d  of  June  we  got  across  the  little  lake  (Nares), 
the  wind  dying  down  as  we  went  through  its  short  drain- 
ing river,  having  made  only  three  miles. 

The  next  day,  the  24th,  the  wind  seemed  to  keep  swing- 


]i4  ALONG  ALASKA'S  GREAT  RIVER. 

ing  arouind  in  a  circle,  and  althougli  we  made  five  miles, 
I  think  we  made  as  many  landings,  so  often  did  the  wind 
fail  us  or  set  in  ahead. 

This  new  lake  I  called  after  Lieutenant  Bove  of  the  Ital- 
ian navy.  Here  too,  the  mountainous  shores  were  carved 
into  a  series  of  terraces  rising  one  above  the  other,  which 
probably  indicated  the  ancient  beaches  of  the  lake  when 
its  outlet  was  closed  at  a  much  higher  level  than  at 
present,  and  when  great  bodies  of  ice  on  their  surface 
plowed  up  the  beach  into  these  terraces.  This  new  lake 
was  nine  miles  long.  The  next  day  again  we  had  the 
same  fight  with  a  battling  wind  from  half  past  six  in  the 
morning  until  after  nine  at  night,  nearly  seventeen 
hours,  but  we  managed  to  make  twelve  miles,  and  better 
than  all,  regain  our  old  course  pointing  northward. 
During  one  of  these  temporary  landings  on  the  shores  of 
Lake  Bove  our  Indians  amused  themselves  in  wasting 
government  matches,  articles  which  they  had  never  seen 
in  such  profusion  before,  and  in  a  little  while  they  suc- 
ceeded in  getting  some  dead  and  fallen  spruce  trees  on 
fire,  and  these  communicating  to  the  living  ones  above 
them,  soon  sent  up  great  billows  of  dense  resinous  smoke 
that  must  have  been  visible  for  miles,  and  which  lasted 
for  a  number  of  minutes  after  we  had  left.  Before  camp- 
ing that  evening  we  could  see  a  very  distant  smoke,  appar- 
ently six  or  seven  miles  ahead,  but  really  ten  or  twenty, 
which  our  Indians  told  us  was  an  answering  smoke  to 
them,  the  Tahk-heesh,  who  kindled  the  second  fire,  evi- 
dently thinking  that  they  were  Chilkat  traders  in  their 
country,  this  being  a  frequent  signal  among  them  as  a 
means  of  announcing  their  nppi'oach,  when  engaged  in 
trading.     It  was  worthy  of  note  as  marking  the  exist 


ALONG  THE  LAKES.  115 

?nce  of  this  primitive  method  of  signaling,  so  common 
among  some  of  the  Indian  tribes  of  the  plains,  among 
these  far-off  savages,  but  I  was  unable  to  ascertain 
whether  they  carried  it  to  such  a  degree  of  intri- 
cacy with  resj^ect  to  the  different  meanings  of  compound 
smokes  either  as  to  number  or  relative  intervals  of  time 
or  space.  It  is  very  doubtful  if  they  do,  as  the  necessity 
for  such  complex  signals  can  hardly  arise. 

This  new  lalte  on  which  we  had  taken  up  our  northward 
course,  and  which  is  about  eighteen  miles  long,  is  called 
by  the  Indians  of  the  country  Tahk-o  (each  lake  and 
connecting  length  of  river  has  a  different  name  with  them), 
and,  I  understand,  receives  a  river  coming  in  from  the 
south,  which,  followed  up  to  one  of  its  sources,  gives  a 
mountain  pass  to  another  river  emptying  into  the  inland 
estuaries  of  the  Pacific  Ocean.  It  is  said  by  the  Indians 
to  be  smaller  than  the  one  we  had  just  come  over,  and 
therefore  we  might  consider  that  we  were  on  the  Yukon 
proper  thus  far. 

Lake  Tahk-o  and  Lake  Bove  are  almost  a  single  sheet, 
separated  only  by  a  narrow  strait  formed  by  a  point  of 
remarkable  length  (Point  Perthes,  after  Justus  Perthes 
of  Gotha),  which  juts  nearly  across  to  the  opposite  shore. 
It  is  almost  covered  with  limestones,  some  of  them 
almost  true  marble  in  their  whiteness,  a  circumstance 
which  gives  a  decided  hue  to  the  cape  even  when  seen  at 
a  distance. 

Leaving  the  raft  alongside  the  beach  of  Lake  Tahk-o  at 
our  only  camping  place  on  it  (Camp  No.  13),  a  short  stroll 
along  its  shores  revealed  a  great  number  of  long,  well- 
trimmed  logs  that  strongly  resembled  telegraph  poles, 
and  would  have  sold  for  those  necessary  nuisances  in  a 


116  ALONG  ALASKA'S  GREAT  RIVER. 

civilized  country.  They  were  finally  made  oiii;  to  be 
the  logs  used  by  the  Indians  in  rafting  down  the  stream, 
and  well-trimmed  by  constant  attrition  on  the  rough 
rocky  beaches  while  held  there  by  the  storms.  Most 
of  these  were  observed  on  the  northern  shores  of  the 
lakes,  to  which  the  current  through  them,  slight  as  it 
was,  coupled  with  the  prevailing  south  wind,  naturally 
drifts  them.     I  afterward  -  ascertained  that  rafting  was 


LOOKING    ACROSS    LAKE    BOVE    FROM     PEBTUES      I'OIiNT, 
Field  Peak  in  the  far  distance.    (Named  for  Hon,  David  Dudley  Field.) 

quite  a  usual  thing  along  the  head  waters  of  the  Yukon, 
and  that  we  were  not  pioneers  in  this  rude  art  by  any 
means,  although  we  had  thought  so  from  the  direful 
l^rognostications  they  were  continually  making  as  to  our 
probable  success  with  our  own.  The  "cotton wood" 
canoes  already  referred  to  are  very  scarce,  there  prob- 
ably not  existing  over  ten  or  twelve  along  the  whole 
length  of  the  upper  river  as  far  as  old  Fort  Selkirk.  Many 
of  their  journeys   up   the   swift  stream  are  performed 


ALONG  THE  LAKERS.  117 

by  the  natives  on  foot,  carrying  their  limited  necessities 
on  their  backs.  Upon  their  retia-n  a  small  raft  of  from 
two  to  six  or  eight  logs  is  made,  and  they  float  down 
with  the  current  in  the  streams,  and  pole  and  sail 
across  the  lakes.  By  comparing  these  logs  wdth  tele- 
graph poles  one  has  a  good  idea  of  the  usual  size  of  the 
timber  of  these  districts.  The  scarcity  of  good  wooden 
canoes  is  also  partially  explained  by  this  smallness  of  the 
logs ;  while  birch  bark  canoes  are  unknown  on  the  Yukon 
until  the  neighborhood  of  old  Fort  Selkirlv  is  reached. 
This  same  Lake  Tahk-o,  or  probably  some  lake  very 
near  it,  had  been  reached  by  an  intrepid  miner,  a  Mr. 
Byrnes,  then  in  the  employ  of  the  Western  Union  Tele- 
graph Company.  Many  of  my  readers  are  probably 
not  acquainted  with  the  fact  that  this  corporation,  at 
about  the  close  of  our  civil  war,  conceived  the  grand  idea 
of  uniting  civilization  in  the  eastern  and  western  conti- 
nents by  a  telegraph  line  running  by  way  of  Bering's 
Straits,  and  that  a  great  deal  of  the  preliminary  sur- 
veys and  even  a  vast  amount  of  the  actual  work  had 
been  completed  when  the  success  of  the  Atlantic  cable 
put  a  stop  to  the  project.  The  Yukon  River  had  been 
carefully  examined  from  its  mouth  as  far  as  old  Fort 
Yukon  (then  a  flourishing  Hudson  Bay  Company  post), 
some  one  thousand  miles  from  the  mouth,  and  even 
roughly  beyond,  in  their  interest,  although  it  had  previ- 
ously been  more  or  less  known  to  the  Russian- American 
and  Hudson  Bay  trading  companies.  Mr.  Byrnes,  a 
practical  miner  from  the  Caribou  mines  of  British 
Columbia,  crossed  the  Tahk-o  Pass,  already  cited,  got  on 
one  of  the  sources  of  the  Yukon,  and  as  near  as  can 
be   made  out,  descended  it  to  the  vicinity  of  the  lake 


118  ALONG  ALASKA'S  GREAT  RIVER. 

of  whicli  I  am  writing.  Here  it  apj)ears  he  was  recalled 
by  a  courier  sent  on  his  trail  and  disi^atclied  by  the 
telegraph  comjiany,  who  were  now  mournfully  assist- 
ing in  the  jubilee  of  the  Atlantic  cable's  success,  and  he 
retraced  his  steps  over  the  river  and  lakes,  and  returned 
to  his  former  occupation  of  mining. 

Whether  he  ever  furnished  a  map  and  a  description  of 
his  journey,  so  that  it  could  be  called  an  exploration, 
I  do  not  know,  but  from  the  books  which  purjDort  to 
give  a  description  of  the  country  as  deduced  from  his 
travels,  I  should  say  not,  considering  their  great  inac- 
curacy. One  book,  noticing  his  travels,  and  purporting 
to  be  a  faithful  record  of  the  telegraph  explorers  on  the 
American  side,  said  that  had  Mr.  Byrnes  continued  his 
trip  only  a  day  and  a  half  further  in  the  light  birch- 
bark  canoes  of  the  country,  he  would  have  reached  old 
Fort  Selkirk,  and  thus  completed  the  exploration  of  the 
Yukon.  Had  he  reached  the  site  of  old  Fort  Selkirk, 
he  certainly  would  have  had  the  credit,  had  he  recorded 
it,  however  rough  his  notes  may  have  been,  but  he 
would  never  have  done  so  in  the  light  birch-bark 
canoes  of  the  country,  for  the  conclusive  reason  that 
they  do  not  exist,  as  already  stated  ;  and  as  to  doing 
it  in  a  day  and  a  half,  our  measurements  from  Lake 
Tahk-o  to  Fort  Selkirk  show  nearly  four  hundred  and 
fifty  miles,  and  observations  proved  that  the  Indians 
seldom  exceed  a  journey  of  six  hours  in  their  crampec^ 
wooden  craft,  so  that  his  progress  would  necessarily 
have  demanded  a  speed  of  nearly  fifty  miles  an  hour. 
At  this  rate  ol  canoeing  along  the  whole  river,  across 
Bering  Sea  and  up  the  Amoor  River,  the  telegraph  com- 
pany need  not  have  completed  their  line  along  this  part, 


ALONG  THE  LAKES.  119 

but  might  simply  have  turned  their  dispatch  over  to 
these  rapid  couriers,  and  they  would  have  only  been  a 
few  hours  behind  the  telegraiDh  dispatch  if  it  had  been 
worked  as  slowly  as  it  is  now  in  the  interest  of  the 
public. 

We  passed  out  of  Lake  Tahko  a  little  after  two  o'clock 
In  the  afternoon  of  the  26th  of  June,  and  entered  the 
first  considerable  stretch  of  river  that  we  had  yet  met 
with  on  the  trip,  about  nine  miles  long.  We  quitted  the 
rivjr  at  five  o'clock,  which  was  quite  an  imiDrovement 
:)n  our  lake  traveling  even  at  its  best.  The  first  j^art  of 
this  short  river  stretch  is  full  of  dangerous  rocks  and 
bowlders,  as  is  also  the  lower  portion  of  Tahko  Lake. 

On  the  right  bank  of  the  river,  about  four  miles  from 
the  entrance,  we  saw  a  tolerably  well-built  ' '  Stick ' ' 
Indian  house.  Near  it  in  the  water  was  a  swamped  Indian 
canoe  which  one  of  our  natives  bailed  out  in  a  manner 
as  novel  as  it  was  effectual.  Grasping  it  on  one  side, 
and  about  the  center,  a  rocking  motion,  fore  and  aft,  was 
kept  up,  the  bailer  waiting  until  the  recurrent  wave  was 
just  striking  the  depressed  end  of  the  boat,  and  as  this 
was  repeated  the  canoe  was  slowly  lifted  until  it  stood 
at  his  waist  with  not  enough  water  in  it  to  sink  an  oyster 
can.  This  occupied  a  space  of  time  not  much  greater 
than  it  has  taken  to  relate  it.  This  house  was  deserted, 
but  evidently  only  for  a  while,  as  a  great  deal  of  its 
owner's  material  of  the  chase  and  the  fishery  was  still 
to  be  seen  hanging  inside  on  the  rafters.  Among  these 
were  a  great  number  of  dried  salmon,  one  of  the  staple 
articles  of  food  that  now  begin  to  appear  on  this  part  of 
the  great  river,  nearly  two  thousand  miles  from  its 
mouth.      This  salmon,  when  dried  before  putrefaction 


120  ALONG  ALASKA'S  GREAT  RIVER. 

sets  in,  is  tolerable,  ranking  somewhere  between  Lim- 
burger  cheese  and  walrus  hide.  Collecting  some  of  it 
occasionally  from  Indian  fishermen  as  we  floated  by,  we 
would  use  it  as  a  lunch  in  homeopathic  quantities  until 
some  of  us  got  so  far  as  to  imagine  that  we  really  liked 
it.  If  smoked,  this  salmon  is  quite  good,  but  by  far  the 
larger  amount  is  dried  in  the  o]jen  air,  and,  Indian  like, 
the  best  is  first  served  and  soon  disappears. 

Floating  down  the  river,  and  coming  near  any  of  the 
low  marshy  x>oints,  we  were  at  once  visited  by  myriads 
of  small  black  gnats  which  formed  a  very  unsolicited 
addition  to  the  millions  of  mosquitoes,  the  number  of 
which  did  not  diminish  in  the  least  as  we  descended  the 
river.  The  only  protection  from  them  was  in  being  well 
out  from  land,  with  a  good  wind  blowing,  or  when  forced 
to  camp  on  shore  a  heavy  resinous  smoke  would  often 
disperse  a  large  part  of  them. 

When  we  camped  that  evening  on  the  new  lake  the 
signal  smoke  of  the  Tahk-heesh  Indians — if  it  was  one— 
was  still  burning,  at  least  some  six  or  seven  miles  ahead 
of  us,  which  showed  how  much  we  had  been  mistaken  in 
estimating  its  distance  the  day  before.  A  tree  has  some- 
thing definite  in  its  size,  and  even  a  butte  or  mountain 
peak  has  something  tangible  on  which  a  person  can  base  a 
calculation  for  distance,  but  when  one  comes  down  to  a 
distant  smoke  I  think  the  greatest  indefiniteness  has 
been  reached,  especially  when  one  M-ants  to  estimate  iU 
distance.  I  had  often  observed  this  before,  when  on  the 
plains,  where  it  is  still  worse  than  in  a  hilly  country, 
where  one  can  at  least  perceive  that  the  smoke  is  beyond 
the  hill,  back  of  which  it  rises,  but  when  often  looking 
down  an  open  river  valley  no  such  indications  are  to  be 


ALONG  THE  LAKES. 


131 


had.  I  remember  when  traveling  through  the  sand  hills 
of  western  Nebraska  that  a  smoke  which  was  variously 
estimated  to  be  from  eight  to  twelve  or  possibly  fifteen 
miles  away  took  us  two  days'  long  traveling  in  an  army 
ambulance,  making  thirty-five  or  forty  miles  a  day,  as 
the  winding  road  ran,  to  reach  its  site. 

The  shores  of  the  new  lake — which  I  named  Lake 
Marsh,  after  Professor  O.  C.  Marsh,  a  well-known 
scientist  of  our  country — was  composed  of  all  sizes  of 


LOOKING    SOUTHWARD    FROM    CAMP    14    ON    LAKE    MARSH 

On  the  left  is  the  Tahko  Pass,  on  the  right  the  Yukon  Pass  in  the  mountains,  directly 
over  the  point  of  land.  Jjei,ween  this  point  and  the  Yukon  Pass  can  be  seen  the  Yukon 
River  coming  into  the  lake, 

clay  stones  jumbled  together  in  confusion,  and  where  the 
water  had  reached  and  beat  upon  them  it  had  reduced 
them  to  a  sticky  clay  of  the  consistency  of  thick  mortar, 
not  at  all  easy  to  walk  through.  This  mire,  accompanied 
by  a  vast  quantity  of  mud  brought  down  by  the  streams 
that  emanated  from  grinding  glaciers,  and  -rhich  could 
be  distinguished  by  the  whiter  color  and  impalpable 
character  of  its  ingredients,  nearly  filled  the  new  lake, 
at  least  for  wide  strips  along  the  shores  where  it  had 
been  driven  by  the  storms.     Although  drawing  a  little 


122  ALONG  ALASKA'S  GREAT  RIVER. 

less  than  two  feet  of  water,  the  raft  struck  several  times 
at  distances  from  the  shore  of  from  fifty  to  a  hundred 
yards,  and  the  only  alternative  was  to  wade  ashore  in 
our  rubber  boots  (the  soft  mud  being  deeper  tlian  the 
water  itself)  and  tie  the  raft  by  a  long  line  whenever  we 
wanted  to  camp. 

One  night,  while  on  this  lake,  a  strong  inshore  breeze 
coming  up,  our  raft,  while  unloaded,  was  gradually 
lifted  by  the  incoming  high  waves,  and  brought  a  few 
inches  further  at  a  time,  until  a  number  of  yards  had 
been  made.  The  next  morning  when  loaded  and  sunk 
deep  into  the  mud,  the  work  we  had  to  pry  it  off  is  more 
easily  imagined  than  described,  but  it  taught  us  a  lesson 
that  we  took  to  heart,  and  thereafter  a  friendly  prod  or 
two  with  a  bar  was  generally  given  at  the  ends  of  the 
cumbersome  craft  to  pry  it  gradually  into  deeper  water 
as  the  load  slowly  weighed  it  down.  When  the  wind 
was  blowing  vigorously  from  some  quarter — and  it  was 
only  when  it  was  blowing  that  we  could  set  sail  and 
make  any  progress — these  shallow  mud  banks  would 
tinge  the  water  over  them  with  a  dirty  white  color  that 
was  in  strong  contrast  with  the  clear  blue  water  over  the 
deeper  portion,  and  by  closely  watching  this  well-defined 
line  of  demarcation  when  under  sail,  we  could  make  out 
the  most  favorable  points  at  which  to  reach  the  bank,  or 
approach  it  as  nearlj"  as  possible.  This  clear-cut  outline 
between  the  whitened  water  within  its  exterior  edges 
and  the  deep  blue  water  beyond,  showed  in  many  places 
an  extension  of  the  deposits  of  from  four  hundred  to 
five  hundred  yards  from  the  beach.  It  is  probable  that 
the  areas  of  water  may  vary  in  Lake  ISlarsh  at  different 
sea.sons  sufficiently  to  lay  bare  these  mud  banks,  or  cover 


ALONG  THE  LAKES.  123 

them  so  as  to  be  navigable  for  small  boats ;  but  at  tlie 
time  of  our  visit  there  seemed  to  be  a  most  wonderful 
uniformity  in  the  depth  of  the  water  over  them  in  every 
part  of  the  lake,  it  being  about  eighteen  inches. 

Camping  on  the  lakes  was  generally  quite  an  easy 
affair.  There  was  always  plenty  of  wood,  and,  of  course, 
water  everywhere,  the  clear,  cold  mountain  springs 
occurring  every  few  hundred  yards  if  the  lake  water  was 
too  muddy  ;  so  that  about  all  that  we  needed  was  a  dry 
place  large  enough  to  pitch  a  couple  of  tents  for  the 
w^hite  people  and  a  tent  fly  for  the  Indians,  but  simple 
as  the  latter  seemed,  it  was  very  often  quite  difficult  to 
obtain.  It  was  seldom  that  we  found  places  where  tent 
pins  could  be  driven  in  the  ground,  and  when  rocks 
large  enough  to  do  duty  as  pins,  or  fallen  timber  or 
brush  for  the  same  purpose  could  not  be  had,  we  gener- 
ally put  the  tent  under  us,  spread  our  blankets  upon  it, 
crawled  in  and  went  to  sleep.  The  greatest  comfort  in 
pitching  our  tent  was  in  keeping  out  the  mosquitoes,  for 
then  we  could  spread  our  mosquito  bars  with  some  show 
of  success,  although  the  constantly  recurring  light  rains 
made  us  often  regret  that  we  had  made  a  bivouac,  not 
particularly  on  account  of  the  slight  wettings  we  got, 
but  because  of  our  constant  fear  that  the  rain  was  going 
to  be  much  worse  in  reality  than  it  ever  proved  to  be. 
I  defy  any  one  to  sleep  in  the  open  air  with  only  a 
blanket  or  two  over  him  and  have  a  great  black  cloud 
sprinkle  a  dozen  drops  of  rain  or  so  in  his  face  and  not 
imagine  the  deluge  was  coming  next.  I  have  tried  it  off 
and  on  for  nearly  twenty  years,  and  have  not  got  over 
the  feeling  yet.  If,  after  camping,  a  storm  threatened, 
a  couple  of  stout  skids  w^ere  placed  fore  and  aft  under 


124  ALONG  ALASKA'S  GREAT  RIVER. 

the  logs  of  the  raft  nearest  the  shore  to  prevent  their 
breaking  off  as  they  bumped  on  the  beach  in  the  waves 
of  the  surf,  a  monotonous  music  that  lulled  us  to  sleep 
on  many  a  stormy  night,  llie  baggage  on  the  raft,  like 
that  in  an  army  wagon  or  upon  a  pack  train  of  mules,  in 
a  few  days  so  assorted  itself  that  the  part  necessary  for 
the  night's  camping  was  always  the  handiest,  and  but  a 
few  minutes  were  required  after  landing  until  the  even- 
ing meal  was  ready. 

So  important  was  it  to  make  the  entire  length  of  the 
river  (over  2000  miles)  within  the  short  interval  between 
the  date  of  our  starting  and  the  probal)le  date  of  depart- 
ure of  the  last  vessel  from  St.  Michaels,  near  the  mouth 
of  the  river,  that  but  little  time  was  left  for  rambles 
through  the  country,  and  much  as  I  desired  to  take  a 
hunt  inland,  and  still  more  to  make  an  examination  of 
the  country  at  various  points  along  the  great  river,  I 
constantly  feared  that  by  so  doing  I  might  be  compro- 
mising our  chances  of  getting  out  of  the  country  before 
winter  should  effectually  forbid  it.  Therefore,  from  the 
very  start  it  was  one  constant  fight  against  time  to  avoid 
such  an  unwished  for  contingency,  and  thus  we  could 
avail  ourselves  of  but  few  opportunities  for  exploring  the 
interior. 

On  the  28th  of  June  a  fair  breeze  on  Lake  Marsh  con- 
tinuing past  sunset  (an  unusual  occurrence),  we  kept  on 
our  way  until  well  after  midnight  before  the  wind  died 
out.  At  midnight  it  was  light  enough  to  read  common 
print  and  I  spent  some  time  about  then  in  working  out 
certain  astronomical  observations.  Venus  was  the  only 
star  that  was  dimly  visible  in  the  unclouded  sky.  Lake 
Marsh  was  the  first  water  that  we  could  trust  in  which  to 


ALONG  THE  LAKES.  125 

take  a  batli,  and  even  there — and  for  that  matter  it  was 
the  same  along  the  entire  river — bathing  was  only,  possi- 
ble on  still,  warm,  sunny  days. 

Below  old  Fort  Selkirk  on  the  Yukon,  at  the  mouth 
of  the  White  River  (so-called  on  account  of  its  white 
muddy  water),  bathing  is  almost  undesirable  on  account 
of  the  large  amount  of  sediment  contained  in  the  water  ; 
its  swift  current  allowing  it  to  hold  much  more  than  any 
river  of  the  western  slope  known  to  me,  while  its  muddy 
banks  furnish  a  ready  base  of  sujDplies.  Its  temperature 
also  seldom  reaches  the  point  that  will  allow  one  to 
l^lunge  in  all  over  with  any  degree  of  comfort.  One  an 
noyance  in  bathing  in  Lake  Marsh  during  the  warmer 
hours  of  the  day  was  the  presence  of  a  lai'ge  fly,  some- 
what resembling  the  "horse-fly,"  but  much  larger  and 
inflicting  a  bite  that  was  proportionately  more  severe. 
These  flies  made  it  necessary  to  keej)  constantly  swinging 
a  towel  in  the  air,  and  a  momentary  cessation  of  this 
exertion  might  be  punished  by  having  a  piece  bitten  out 
of  one  that  a  few  days  later  w^ould  look  like  an  incipi- 
ent boil.  One  of  the  party  so  bitten  was  comj^letely 
disabled  for  a  week,  and  at  the  moment  of  infliction  it 
was  hard  to  believe  that  one  was  not  disabled  for  life. 
With  these  "horse"  flies,  gnats  and  mosquitoes  in  such 
dense  profusion,  the  Yukon  Valley  is  not  held  up  as  a 
paradise  to  future  tourists. 

The  southern  winds  which  had  been  blowing  almost 
continuously  since  we  first  spread  our  sail  on  Lake  Lin- 
deman,  and  which  had  been  our  salvation  while  on 
the  lakes,  must  prevail  chiefly  in  this  region,  as  witness 
the  manner  in  which  the  spruce  and  pine  trees  invariably 
lean  to  the  northward,  especially  where  their  isolated 


r  'j  ALONG  ALASKA'S  GREAT  RIVEE. 

condition  and  exposure  on  Hat  level  tracts  give  the  winds 
lull  play,  CO  inlluencF!  their  position.  Near  Lake  Lin- 
deman  a  dwarfed,  co^itorted  pine  was  noticed,  the  fibers 
of  which  were  not  only  twisted  around  its  heart  two  or 
three  times,  in  a  height  of  fifteen  or  twenty  feet,  but  the 
heart  itself  was  twisted  in  a  spiral  like  a  corkscrew  that 
made  two  or  three  turns  in  its  length,  after  which,  as  if 
to  add  confusion  to  disorder,  it  was  bent  in  a  graceful 
sweep  to  the  north  to  conform  to  the  general  leaning  of 
all  the  trees  similarly  exposed  to  the  action  of  the  winds. 
There  was  a  general  brash  condition  of  all  the  wood 
which  was  very  apparent  when  we  started  to  make  pins 
for  binding  the  raft,  while  it  was  seldom  that  a  log  was 
found  large  enough  for  cutting  timber.  The  little  cove 
into  which  we  put  on  the  19th  of  June,  when  chased  by 
a  gale,  by  a  singular  freak  of  good  fortune  had  just  the 
logs  we  needed,  both  as  to  length  and  size,  to  repair  our 
raft,  and  I  do  not  think  we  saw  a  good  chance  again  on 
the  upper  waters  of  the  Yukon.  Further  down,  every  is- 
land— and  the  Yukon  has  probably  as  many  islands 
as  any  half-dozen  rivers  of  the  same  size  in  the  world 
put  together — has  its  upper  end  covered  with  enough 
timber  to  build  all  the  rafts  a  lively  party  could  con- 
struct in  a  summer. 

Lake  Marsh  also  had  a  few  terraces  visible  on  the  east- 
ern hillsides,  but  they  were  nearer  together  and  not  so 
well  marked  as  those  we  observed  on  some  of  the  lakes 
further  back.  Along  these,  however,  were  pretty  open 
prairies,  covered  with  the  dried,  yellow  grass  of  last 
year,  this  summer's  growth  having  evidently  not  yet 
forced  its  way  thiough  the  dense  mass.  More  than  one 
of  us  compared  these  prairies,  irregular  as  they  seemed, 


ALONG  THE  LAKES. 


iSff 


with  the  stubble  fields  of  wheat  or  oats  in  more  civilized 
climes.  I  have  no  doubt  that  they  furnish  good  grazing 
to  mountain  goats,  caribou  and  moose,  and  would  be 
sufficient  for  cattle  if  they  could  keep  on  friendly  terms 
with  the  mosquitoes.  According  to  the  general  terms  of 
the  survival  of  the  fittest  and  the  growth  of  muscles  the 
most  used  to  the  detriment  of  others,  a  band  of  cattle 
inhabiting  this  district  in  the  far  future  would  be  all 


TYPICAL   TAHK-HEESH    OR    "  STICK        INDIANS. 
From  sketches  by  Sergeant  Gloster. 

tail  and  no  body  unless  the  mosquitoes  should  experience 
a  change  of  numbers. 

At  Marsh  a  few  miserable  "Stick  "  Indians  put  in  an 
appearance,  but  not  a  single  thing  could  be  obtained 
from  them  by  our  curiosity  hunters.  A  rough-looking 
pair  of  shell  ear-rings  in  a  smalJ  boy's  possession  he  in- 
stantly refused  to  exchange  for  the  great  consideration  of 
a  jack-knife  offered  by  a  member  of  the  party,  who  sup- 


i;ii8  ALONG  ALASKA'S  GREAT  RIVER. 

posed  the  ornaments  to  be  purely  local  in  character  and 
of  savage  manufacture.  Another  trinket  was  added  to 
the  jack-knife  and  still  refused,  and  additions  were  made 
to  the  original  offer,  until  just  to  see  if  there  was  any 
limit  to  the  acquisitiveness  of  these  people,  a  final  offer 
was  made,  I  believe,  of  a  double-barreled  shot-gun  with 
a  thousand  rounds  of  ammunition,  a  gold  watch,  two 
sacks  of  flour  and  a  camp  stove,  and  in  refusing  this  the 
boy  generously  added  the  information  that  its  value  to 
him  was  based  on  the  fact  that  it  had  been  received  from 
the  Chilkats,  who,  in  turn,  had  obtained  it  from  the 
white  traders. 

A  few  scraggy  half-starved  dogs  accompanied  the 
party.  An  unconquerable  pugnacity  was  the  jorincipal 
characteristic  of  these  animals,  two  of  them  fighting 
until  they  were  so  exhausted  that  they  had  to  lean 
up  against  each  other  to  rest.  A  dirty  group  of  chil- 
dren of  assorted  sizes  completed  the  picture  of  one  of  the 
most  dejected  races  of  people  on  the  face  of  the  earth. 
They  visited  their  fish  lines  at  uhe  mouth  of  tlie  incom- 
ing river  at  the  head  of  Lake  Marsh,  and  caught  enough 
fish  to  keep  body  and  soul  together  after  a  fashion. 
This  method  of  fishing  is  quite  common  in  this  part  of 
the  country,  and  at  the  mouth  of  a  number  of  streams, 
or  where  the  main  stream  debouches  into  a  lake,  long 
willow  poles  driven  far  enough  into  the  mud  to  i:)revent 
their  washing  away  are  often  seen  projecting  upward 
and  swayed  back  and  forth  by  the  force  of  the  current. 
On  closer  examination  they  reveal  a  sinew  string  tied  to 
them  at  about  the  water-line  or  a  little  above.  They 
occasionally  did  us  good  service  as  buoys,  indicating  the 
mud  flats,  which  we  could  thereby  avoid,  but  the  num- 


ALONG  THE  LAKES.  129 

ber  of  fish  we  ever  saw  taken  off  them  was  not  alarming. 
The  majority  of  those  caught  are  secured  by  means  of 
the  double-pronged  fish- spears,  which  were  described  on 
page  76.  I  never  observed  any  nets  in  the  possession 
of  the  Tahk-heesh  or  "Sticks,"  but  my  investigations  in 
this  respect  were  so  slight  that  I  might  easily  have  over 
looked  them.  Among  my  trading  material  to  be  used 
for  hiring  native  help,  fish-hooks  were  eagerly  sought  by 
all  of  the  Indians,  until  after  White  River  was  passed, 
at  which  point  the  Yukon  becomes  too  muddy  for  any 
kind  of  fishing  with  hook  and  line.  Lines  they  were  not 
so  eager  to  obtain,  the  common  ones  of  sinew  sufficiently 
serving  the  purjDOse.  No  good  bows  or  arrows  were  seen 
among  them,  their  only  weapons  being  the  stereotyped 
Hudson  Bay  Company  flintlock  smooth-bore  musket, 
the  only  kind  of  gun,  I  believe,  throwing  a  ball  that  this 
great  trading  company  has  ever  issued  since  its  founda- 
tion. They  also  sell  a  cheap  variety  of  double-barreled 
percussion-capped  shotgun,  which  the  natives  buy,  and 
loading  them  with  ball— being  about  No.  12  or  14  guage 
^find  them  superior  to  the  muskets.  Singular  as  it  may 
appear,  these  Indians,  like  the  Eskimo  I  found  around 
the  northern  part  of  Hudson's  Bay,  prefer  the  flintlock 
to  the  percussion-cap  gun,  probably  for  the  reason  that 
the  latter  depends  on  three  articles  of  trade— caps,  pow- 
der and  lead — while  the  former  depends  on  but  two  of 
these,  and  the  chances  of  running  short  of  ammunition 
when  perhaps  at  a  distance  of  many  weeks'  journey  from 
these  supplies,  are  thereby  lessened.  These  old  muskets 
are  tolerably  good  at  sixty  to  seventy  yards,  and  even 
reasonably  dangerous  at  twice  that  distance.  In  all 
their  huntings  these  Indians  contrive  by  that  tact  pecu- 


lae  ALONG  ALASKA'S  GREAT  RIVER. 

liar  to  savages  to  get  within  this  distance  of  moose,  black 
bear  and  caribou,  and  thus  to  earn  a  pretty  fair  subsist- 
ence the  year  round,  having  for  summer  a  diet  of  salmon 
vrith  a  few  berries  and  roots. 

The  28th  we  had  on  Lake  Marsh  a  brisk  rain  and 
thunder  shower,  lasting  from  12.45  p.  m.  to  2.15  p.  m.. 
directly  overhead,  which  was,  I  believe,  the  first  thun- 
derstorm recorded  on  the  Yukon,  thunder  being  un- 
known on  the  lower  river,  according  to  all  accounts. 
Our  Camp  15  was  on  a  soft,  boggy  shore  covered  with 
reeds,  where  a  tent  could  not  be  pitched  and  blankets 
could  not  be  spread.  The  raft  lay  far  out  in  the  lake,  a 
hundred  yards  from  the  shore,  across  soft  white  mud, 
through  which  one  might  sink  in  the  water  to  one's 
middle.  When  to  this  predicament  the  inevitable  mos- 
quitoes and  a  few  rain  showers  are  added,  I  judge  that 
our  plight  was  about  as  disagreeable  as  could  well  be 
imagined.  Such  features  of  the  explorer's  life,  however, 
are  seldom  dwelt  upon.  The  northern  shores  of  the  lake 
are  unusually  flat  and  boggy.  Our  primitive  mode  of 
navigation  suffered  also  from  the  large  banks  of  ' '  glacier 
mud"  as  we  approached  the  lake's  outlet.  Most  of  this 
mud  was  probably  deposited  by  a  large  river,  the 
McClintock  (in  honor  of  Yice-Admiral  Sir  Leopold 
McClintock,  R.  N.),  that  here  comes  in  from  the  north- 
east— a  river  so  large  that  we  were  in  some  doubt  as  to 
its  being  the  outlet,  until  its  current  settled  the  matter 
Dy  carrying  us  into  the  proper  channel.  A  very  con- 
spicuous hill,  bearing  north-east  from  Lake  Marsh,  was 
named  Michie  Mountain  after  Professor  Michie  of  West 
Point. 


CHAPTER  VI. 


A   CHAPTER  ABOUT   RAFTING. 


'SNUBBING   '  THE  RAFT. 


AKE  Marsh  gave  us 
four  days  of  variable 
sailing  on  its  waters, 
when,  on  the  29th  of 
June,  we  emerged 
from  it  and  once  more 
felt  the  exhilaration 
of  a  rapid  course  on  a 
swift  river,  an  exhila- 
ration that  was  not 
allowed  to  die  rapidly  away,  by  reason  of  the  great 
amount  of  exercise  we  had  to  go  through  in  managing 
the  raft  in  its  many  eccentric  phases  of  navigation.  On 
the  lakes,  whether  in  storm  or  still  weather,  one  man 
stationed  at  the  stern  oar  of  the  raft  had  been  sufficient, 
as  long  as  he  kept  awake,  nor  was  any  great  harm  done 
if  he  fell  asleep  in  a  quiet  breeze,  but  once  on  the  river 
an  additional  oarsman  at  the  bow  sweep  was  impera- 
tively needed,  for  at  short  turns  or  sudden  bends,  or 
when  nearing  half-sunken  bowlders  or  tangled  masses  of 
driftwood,  or  bars  of  sand,  mud  or  gravel,  or  while 
steering  clear  of  eddies  and  slack  water,  it  was  often 
necessary  to  do  some  very  lively  work  at  both  ends  of 
the  raft  in  swinging  the  ponderous  contrivance  around  to 


132  ALOXG  ALASKA'S  GREAT  RIVER. 

avoid  these  obstacles,  and  in  tlie  worst  cases  two  or  three 
other  men  assisted  the  oarsmen  in  their  difficult  task. 
Just  how  much  strength  a  couple  of  strong  men  could 
put  on  a  steering  sweep  was  a  delicate  matter  to  gauge, 
and  too  often  in  the  most  trying  places  our  experiments 
in  testing  the  questions  were  failures,  and  with  a  sharp 
snap  the  oar  would  part,  a  man  or  two  would  sit  down 
violently  without  stopping  to  pick  out  the  most  luxur- 
ious places,  and  the  craft  like  a  wild  animal  unshackled 
would  go  ploAving  through  the  fallen  timber  that  lined 
the  banks,  or  bring  up  on  the  bar  or  bowlder  we  had 
been  working  hard  to  avoid.  We  slowly  became  practi- 
cal oar  makers,  however,  and  toward  the  latter  part  of 
the  journey  had  some  crude  but  effective  implements 
that  defied  annihilation. 

As  we  leisurely  and  lazily  crept  along  the  lakes  some- 
body would  be  driving  away  ennui  by  dressing  down 
pins  with  a  hatchet,  boring  holes  with  an  auger  and 
driving  pins  with  an  ax,  until  by  the  time  the  lakes  were 
all  passed  I  believe  that  no  two  logs  crossed  each  other 
in  the  raft  that  were  not  securely  pinned  at  the  point  of 
juncture  with  at  least  one  pin,  and  if  the  logs  were  large 
ones  with  two  or  three.  In  this  manner  our  vessel  was 
as  solid  as  it  was  possible  to  make  such  a  craft,  and 
would  bring  up  against  a  bowlder  with  a  shock  and 
swing  dizzily  around  in  a  six  or  seven  mile  current  with 
no  more  concern  than  if  it  were  a  slab  in  a  mill  race. 

I  believe  I  have  made  the  remark  in  a  previous  chap- 
ter that  managing  a  raft — at  least  our  method  of  manag- 
ing a  raft — on  a  lake  was  a  tolerably  simple  affair, 
esjiecially  with  a  favorable  wind,  and  to  tell  the  truth, 
one  can  not  manage  it  at  all  except  with  a  favorable 


A  CHAPTER  ABOUT  RAFTING.  133 

<dnd.  It  was  certainly  the  height  of  simplicity  -when 
compared  with  its  navigation  upon  a  river,  although  at 
first  sight  one  might  perhaps  think  the  reverse  ;  at  least 
I  had  thought  so,  and  from  the  conversation  of  the  whites 
and  Indians  of  south-eastern  Alaska,  I  knew  that  their 
opinions  coincided  with  mine  ;  but  I  was  at  length  com- 
pelled to  hold  differently  from  them  in  this  matter,  as 
in  many  others.  Especially  was  this  navigation  difficult 
on  a  swift  river  like  the  Yukon,  and  I  know  of  none 
that  can  maintain  a  flow  of  more  even  rapidity  from 
source  to  mouth  than  this  great  stream.  It  is  not  very 
hard  to  keep  a  raft  or  any  floating  object  in  the  center 
of  the  current  of  a  stream,  even  if  left  alone  at  times,  but 
the  number  of  things  which  present  themselves  from 
time  to  time  to  drag  it  out  of  this  channel  seems  marvel- 
ous. 

Old  watermen  and  rafting  lumbermen  know  that  while 
a  river  is  rising  it  is  hard  to  keep  the  channel,  even  the 
driftwood  created  by  the  rise  clinging  to  the  shores  of 
the  stream.  Accordingly  they  are  anxious  for  the 
moment  when  this  driftwood  begins  to  float  along  the 
main  current  and  out  in  the  middle  of  the  stream,  for 
then  they  know  the  water  is  subsiding,  and  from  that 
point  it  requires  very  little  effort  to  keep  in  the  swiftest 
current.  Should  this  drift  matter  be  equally  distributed 
over  the  running  water  it  is  inferred  that  the  river  is  at 
"a  stand-still,"  as  they  say.  An  adept  can  closely 
judge  of  the  variations  and  stage  of  water  by  this 
means. 

In  a  river  with  soft  or  earthy  banks  (and  in  going  the 
whole  length  of  the  Yukon,  over  two  thousand  miles, 
we  saw  several  varieties  of  shores),  the  swift  current,  in 


134 


ALONG  ALASKA'S  GREAT  RIVER. 


which  one  desires  to  keep  when  the  current  is  the  motive 
power,  nears  the  shores  only  at  i)oints  or  curves,  where 
it  digs  out  the  ground  into  steep  perpendicuhir  banks, 
which  if  at  all  high  make  it  impossible  to  find  a  camp- 
ing place  for  the  night,  and  out  of  this  swift  current  the 
raft  had  to  be  rowed  to  secure  a  camp  at  evening,  while 
breaking  camp  next  morning  we  had  to  work  it  back 
into  the  current  again.     Nothing  could  be  more  aggra- 


AMONG    THE    SWEEPEKS. 

vating  than  after  leaving  this  swift  current  to  find  a 
camp,  as  evening  fell,  to  see  no  possible  chance  for  such 
a  place  on  the  side  we  had  chosen  and  to  go  crawling 
along  in  slack  water  while  trees  and  brushes  swept 
rapidly  past  borne  on  the  swift  waters  we  had  quitted. 

If  the  banks  of  a  river  are  wooded — and  no  stream  can 
show  much  denser  growth  on  its  shores  than  the  Yukon — 
the  trees  that  are  constantly  tumbling  in  from  these  places 
that  are  being  undermined,  and  yet  hanging  on  by  their 
roots,  form  a  series  of  cTievaux  de/r/se  or  abafis-,  to  which 
is  given  the  backwoods  cognomen  of  "  sweepers,"  and  a 


A  CHAPTER  ABOUT  RAFTING. 


135 


man  on  the  upper  side  of  a  raft  plunging  through  them 
in  a  swift  current  almost  wishes  himself  a  beaver  or  a 
muskrat  so  that  he  can  dive  out  and  escape.     ■■^- 

Not  only  is  the  Yukon  equally  wooded 
on  its  banks  with  the  average  rivers  of 
the  world,  but  this  fringe  of  fallen 
timber  is  much  greater  in  quantity 
and    more    formidable    in    aspect 
than  any  found  in  the  temperate  fig.  1. 

zones.  I  think  I  can  explain  this  fact  to  the  satisfaction 
of  my  readers.  Taking  fig.  1  on  this  page  as  representing 
a  cross-section  perpendicular  to  the  trend  of  a  bank  of  a 
river  in  our  own  climate,  the  stumps  ss  representing 
trees  which  if  undermined  by  the  water  as 
far  as  c  will  generally  fall  in  along 
cd,  and  carry  away  a  few  trees, 
three  at  most,  then,  as  the 
roots  of  no  more  than  one 
such  tree  are  capable  of  hold- 
ing it  so  as  to  form  an  abatis 
along  the  bank,  trees  so  held  will  lean  obliquely  down 
stream  and  any  floating  object  will  merely  brush  along 
on  their  tips  without  receiving  serious  damage.  Figure 
2,  above,  repre- 
sents a  similar 
sketch  of  a  cross- 
section  on  the 
banks  of  the 
Yukon,  e  s  p  e  c  -  fig.  3. 

ially  along  its  niimerous  islands,  these  banks,  as  we  saw 
them,  being  generally  from  six  to  eight  feet  above  the 
level  of  the  water.     This  is  also  about  the  depth  to 


FIG.  2. 


136  ALONG  ALASKA'S  GREAT  RIVER. 

which  the  moist  marshy  ground  freezes  solid  during  th*^ 
intense  cold  of  the  Alaskan  winter  in  the  interior  dis- 
tricts, and  the  banks  therefore  have  the  tenacity  of  ice 
to  support  them  ;  and  it  is  not  until  the  water  has  exca- 
vated as  far  as  c  (live  or  six  times  as  far  as  in  Figure  1), 
that  the  overhanging  mass  csd  becomes  heavy  enough  to 
break  off  the  projecting  bank  along  cd.  This  as  a  solid 
frozen  body  falls  downward  around  the  axis  c,  being  too 
heavy  for  the  water  to  sweep  away,  it  remains  until 
thawed  out  by  the  river  water  already  but  little  above 
freezing,  by  reason  of  the  constant  influx  of  glacier 
streams  and  from  running  between  frozen  banks.  I 
have  roughly  attempted  to  show  this  process  in  Fig.  3. 
I  think  any  one  will  acknowledge  that  the  raft  R,  carried 
by  a  swift  current  sw^eeping  toward  c  is  not  in  a  very 
desirable  position.  Such  a  position  is  bad  enough  on 
any  river  wdiich  has  but  a  single  line  of  trees  along  its 
scarp  and  trending  down  stream,  but  on  the  Yukon  it  is 
unfortunately  worse,  wdth  every  branch  and  twig  fero- 
ciously standing  at  "charge  bayonets,"  to  resist  any 
thing  that  floats  that  way.  In  Fig.  3,  the  maximum  is 
depicted  just  as  the  bank  falls  or  shortly  after  ;  and  it 
requires  but  a  few  days,  possibly  a  week  or  a  fortnight, 
for  all  the  outer  and  most  dangerous  looking  trees  to  be 
uore  or  less  thoroughly  swept  away  by  the  swift  current, 
and  a  less  bristling  aspect  presented,  the  great  half 
frozen  mass  acting  somewhat  as  a  breakwater  to  further 
undermining  of  the  bank  for  a  long  while.  In  many 
places  along  the  river,  these  excavations  had  gone  so  far 
that  the  bank  seemed  full  of  deep  gloomy  caves  ;  and  as 
we  drifted  close  by,  we  could  see,  and,  on  quiet  days 
hear,  the  dripping  :^rom  the  thawing  surface,  c  s  (fig.  2). 


A  CHAPTER  ABOUT  RAFTING.  137 

In  other  places  the  half  polished  surface  of  the  ice  in  the 
frozen  ground  could  be  seen  in  recent  fractures  as  late  as 
July,  or  even  August, 

Often  when  camped  in  some  desolate  spot  or  floating 
lazily  along,  having  seen  no  inhabitants  for  days,  we 
would  be  startled  by  the  sound  of  a  distant  gun-shot  on 
the  banks,  which  would  excite  our  curiosity  to  see  the 
savage  sportsman  ;  but  we  soon  came  to  trace  these  re- 
ports to  the  right  cause,  that  of  falling  banks,  although 
not  until  after  we  had  several  times  been  deceived. 
Once  or  twice  we  actually  saw  these  tremendous  cavings 
in  of  the  banks  quite  near  us,  and  more  frequently  than 
we  wanted  we  floated  almost  underneath  some  that  were 
not  far  from  the  crisis  of  their  fate,  a  fate  which  we 
thought  might  be  precipitated  by  some  accidental  collis- 
ion of  our  making.  By  far  the  most  critical  moment  was 
when  both  the  current  and  a  strong  wind  set  in  against 
one  of  these  banks.  On  such  occasions  we  were  often 
compelled  to  tie  up  to  the  bank  and  wait  for  better  times, 
or  if  the  danger  was  confined  to  a  short  stretch  we  would 
fight  it  out  until  either  the  whole  party  was  exhausted 
or  our  object  was  attained. 

Whenever  an  island  was  made  out  ahead  and  it  appeared 
to  be  near  the  course  of  our  drifting,  the  conflicting  guess- 
es we  indulged  in  as  to  which  shore  of  the  island  we  should 
skirt  would  indicate  the  difficulty  of  making  a  correct 
estimate.  It  takes  a  peculiarly  well  practiced  eye  to 
follow  with  certainty  the  line  of  the  current  of  the  stream 
from  the  bow  of  the  raft  beyond  any  obstruction  in 
sight  a  fair  distance  ahead,  and  on  more  than  one 
occasion  our  hardest  work  with  the  oars  and  poles  was 
rewarded  by  finding  ourselves  on  the  very  bar  or  flat  we 


138  ALONG  ALASKA'S  GREAT  RIVER. 

had  been  striving  to  avoid.  The  position  of  the  sun, 
both  vertical  and  liorizontal,  its  brightness  and  the  char- 
acter of  the  clouds,  the  clearness  and  swiftness  of  the 
water,  the  nature  and  strength  of  the  wind,  however 
lightly  it  might  be  blowing,  and  a  dozen  other  circum- 
stances had  to  be  taken  into  account  in  order  to  solve 
this  apparently  simple  problem.  If  we  coidd  determine 
at  what  point  in  the  upper  end  of  the  island  the  current 
was  parted  upon  either  side  (and  at  any  great  distance 
this  was  often  quite  as  difficult  a  problem  as  the  other), 
one  could  often  make  a  correct  guess  by  projecting  a  tree 
directly  beyond  and  over  this  jooint  against  the  distant 
hills.  If  the  tree  crept  along  these  hills  to  the  right,  the 
raft  might  pass  to  the  left  of  the  island,  and  vice  versa  ; 
this  would  certainly  hai^pen  if  the  current  was  not  de- 
flected by  some  bar  or  shoal  between  the  raft  and  the 
island.  And  such  shoals  and  bars  of  gravel,  sand  and 
mud  are  very  frequent  obstructions  in  front  of  an  island 
— at  least  it  was  so  on  the  Yukon — indeed  the  coinci- 
dence was  too  frequent  to  be  without  significance.  These 
bars  and  shoals  were  not  merely  prolongations  from  the 
upper  point  of  the  island,  but  submerged  islands,  so  to 
speak,  just-  in  front  of  them,  and  between  the  two  a 
steamboat  could  probably  pass.  Using  tall  trees  as 
guides  to  indicate  on  which  side  of  the  island  the  raft 
might  pass  was,  as  I  have  said,  not  so  easy  as  appears  at 
first  sight,  for  unless  the  tree  could  be  made  out  directly 
over  the  dividing  point  of  the  current,  all  surmises  were 
of  little  value.  The  tall  sj^ruce  trees  on  the  rignt  and  left 
flanks  of  the  island  in  sight  were  always  the  most  con- 
spicuous, being  fewer  in  number,  und  more  prominent  in 
their  isolation,  than  the  dense  growth  of  the  center  of  the 


A  CHAPTER  ABOUT  RAFTING.  139 

island,  as  it  was  seen  "end  on"  from  above.  People 
were  very  prone  to  use  these  convenient  reference  marks 
in  making  their  calculations,  and  one  can  readily  perceive 
when  the  trees  were  near  and  the  island  fairly  wide,  both  of 
the  outer  trees  would  appear  to  diverge  in  approaching, 
and  according  as  one  selected  the  right  or  the  left  of  the 
two  trees,  one  would  infer  that  our  course  was  to  the  left 
or  right  of  the  island.  As  one  stood  on  the  bow — as  we 
always  called  the  down-stream  end  of  the  raft,  although 
it  was  shaped  no  differently  from  the  stern — and  looked 
forward  on  the  water  flowing  along,  the  imagination 
easily  conceives  that  one  can  follow  up  from  that  position 
to  almost  any  thing  ahead  and  see  the  direction  of  the 
current  leading  straight  for  it.  Eddies  and  slack  cur- 
rents, into  which  a  raft  is  very  liable  to  swing  as  it 
rounds  a  point  with  an  abrupt  turn  in  the  axis  of  the 
current,  are  all  great  nuisances,  for  though  one  may  not 
get  into  the  very  heart  of  any  of  tliem,  yet  the  sum  total 
of  delay  in  a  day's  drift  is  often  considerable,  and  by  a 
little  careful  management  in  steering  the  raft  these 
troubles  may  nearly  alwa.ys  be  avoided.  Of  course,  one 
is  o"f  ten  called  upon  to  choose  between  these  and  other 
impediments,  more  or  less  aggravating,  so  that  one's 
attention  is  constantly  active  as  the  raft  drifts  along. 

In  a  canal-like  stream  of  uniform  width,  which  gives 
little  chance  for  eddies  or  slack  water — and  the  upper 
Yukon  has  many  long  stretches  that  answer  to  this 
description — every  thing  goes  along  smoothly  enough 
until  along  toward  evening,  when  the  party  wishes  to  go 
into  camp  while  the  river  is  tearing  along  at  four  or  five 
miles  an  hour.  I  defy  any  one  who  has  never  been 
similarly  situated,  to  have  any  adequate  conception  of 


140 


ALONG  ALASKA'S  GREAT  RIVER. 


the  way  in  which  a  ponderous  vessel  like  our  raft,  con- 
structed of  large  logs  and  loaded  with  four  or  five  tons 
of  cargo  and  crew,  will  bring  up  against  any  obstacle 
while  going  at  this  rate.  If  there  are  no  eddies  into 
which  it  can  be  rowed  or  steered  and  its  progress 
thereby  stopped  or  at  least  slackened,  it  is  very  hard 
work  indeed  to  go  into  camp,  for  should  the  raft  strike 
end  on,  a  side  log  or  two  may  be  torn  out  and  the  vessel 
transformed  by  the  shock  into  a  lozenge-shaped  affair. 
Usually,  under  these  circumstances,  we  would  bring  the 
raft  close  in  shore,  and  with  the  bow  oar  hold  its  head 


well  out  into  the  stream,  while  with  the  steering  oar  the 
stern  end  would  be  thrown  against  the  bank  and  there 
held,  scraping  along  as  firmly  as  two  or  three  men  could 
do  it  (see  diagram  above),  and  this  f  rictional  brake  would 
be  kept  up  steadily  until  we  slowed  down  a  little,  when 
one  or  two,  or  even  half-a-dozen  persons  would  jump 
ashore  at  a  favorable  spot,  and  with  a  rox)e  complete  the 
slackening  until  it  would  warrant  our  twisting  the  rope 
around  a  tree  on  the  bank  and  a  cross  log  on  the  raft, 
when  from  both  i)laces  the  long  rope  would  be  slowly 


A  CHAPTER  ABOUT  RAFTING.  141 

allowed  to  pay  out  under  strong  and  increasing  friction, 
or  "snubbing"  as  logmen  call  it,  and  this  would  bring 
the  craft  to  a  standstill  in  water  so  swift  as  to  boil  up 
over  the  stern  logs,  whereupon  it  would  receive  a  series 
of  snug  lashings.  If  the  position  was  not  favorable  for 
camping  we  would  slowly  ' '  drop ' '  the  craft  down 
stream  by  means  of  the  rope  to  some  better  site,  never 
allowing  her  to  proceed  at  a  rate  of  speed  that  we  could 
not  readily  control.  If,  however,  we  were  unsuccessful 
in  making  our  chosen  camping  ground  and  had  drifted 
below  it,  there  was  not  sufficient  power  in  our  party,  nor 
even  in  the  strongest  rope  we  had,  ever  to  get  the  craft 
up  stream  in  the  average  current,  whether  by  tracking 
or  any  other  means,  to  the  intended  spot. 

Good  camping  places  were  not  to  be  had  in  every 
stretch  of  the  river,  and  worse  than  all,  they  had  to  be 
selected  a  long  way  ahead  in  order  to  be  able  to  make 
them,  with  our  slow  means  of  navigation,  from  the 
middle  of  the  broad  river  where  we  usually  were. 

Oftentimes  a  most  acceptable  place  would  be  seen  just 
abreast  of  it,  having  until  then  been  concealed  by  some 
heavily  wooded  spur  or  point,  and  then  of  course  it 
would  be  too  late  to  reach  it  with  our  slow  craft,  while 
to  saunter  along  near  shore,  so  as  to  take  immediate 
advantage  of  such  a  possible  spot,  was  to  sacrifice  a  good 
deal  of  our  rapid  progress.  To  run  from  swift  into 
slacker  water  could  readily  be  accomplished  by  simply 
pointing  the  craft  in  the  direction  one  wanted  to  go,  but 
th3  reverse  process  was  not  so  easy,  at  least  by  the  same 
method.  I  suppose  the  proper  way  to  manage  so  clumsy 
a  concern  as  a  raft,  would  be  by  means  of  side  oars  and 
rowing  it  end  on  (and  this  we    did  on  the  lakes  in 


142  ALONG  ALASKA'S  GREAT  RTVEK. 

making  a  camp  or  in  gaining  che  shore  wlien  a  head  wind 
set  in),  but  as  our  jWO  oars  at  bow  and  stern  were  the 
most  convenient  for  the  greater  part  of  the  work,  we 
used  them  entirely,  always  rowing  our  bundle  of  logs 
broadside  on  to  the  point  desired,  jDrovided  that  no  bars 
or  other  obstacles  interfered.  We  generally  kept  the 
bow  end  inclined  to  the  shore  that  we  were  trying  to 
reach,  a  plan  that  was  of  service,  as  I  have  shown,  in 
passing  from  swift  to  slack  water,  and  in  a  three  mile 
current  by  using  our  oars  rowing  broadside  on  we  could 
keep  at  an  angle  of  about  thirty  degrees  from  the  axis 
of  the  stream  as  we  made  shoreward  in  this  position. 
The  knowledge  of  this  fact  enabled  us  to  make  a  rough 
calculation  as  to  the  point  at  which  we  should  touch  the 
bank.  The  greater  or  less  swiftness  of  the  current  would 
of  course  vary  this  angle  and  our  calculations  accord- 
ingly. 

Our  bundles  of  effects  on  the  two  corduroy  decks  made 
quite  high  piles  fore  and  aft,  and  when  a  good  strong 
wind  was  blowing — and  Alaska  in  the  summer  is  the 
land  of  wind — we  had  by  way  of  sail  power  a  spread  of 
broadside  area  that  was  incapable  of  being  lowered.  More 
frequently  than  was  pleasant  the  breeze  carried  us  along 
under  ' '  sweepers ' '  or  dragged  us  over  bars  or  drove  us 
down  unwelcome  channels  of  slack  water.  In  violent 
gales  we  were  often  actually  held  against  the  bank,  all 
movement  in  advance  being  effectually  checked.  A  mild 
wind  was  always  welcome,  for  in  the  absence  of  a  breeze 
when  approaching  the  shore  the  musquitoes  made  exist- 
ence burdensome. 

During  hot  days  on  the  Avide  open  river — singular  as 
it  may  seem  so  near  the  Arctic  Circle — the  sun  would 


A  CHAPTER  ABOUT  RAFTING.  148 

strike  down  from  overhead  with  a  blistering  effect  and  a 
bronzing  effect  from  its  reilection  in  the  dancing  waters 
that  made  one  feel  as  though  he  were  floating  on  the  Nile, 
Congo  or  Amazon,  or  any  where  except  in  the  very  shadow 
of  the  Arctic  Circle.  Ronghly  improvised  tent  flies  and 
flaps  helped  us  to  screen  ourselves  to  a  limited  extent 
from  the  tropical  torment,  but  if  hung  top  high,  the 
stern  oarsman,  who  had  charge  of  the  "ship,"  could  see 
nothing  ahead  on  his  course,  and  the  curtain  would  have 
to  come  down.  JSTo  annoyance  could  seem  more  sin- 
gular in  the  Arctic  and  sub-Arctic  zones  than  a  blister- 
ing sun  or  a  swarm  of  mosquitoes,  and  yet  I  believe 
my  greatest  discomforts  in  those  regions  came  from  these 
same  causes,  certainly  from  the  latter.  Several  times 
our  thermometer  registered  but  little  below  100°  Fahr- 
enheit in  the  shade,  and  the  weather  seemed  much 
warmer  even  than  that,  owing  to  the  bright  reflections 
that  gleamed  from  the  water  upon  our  faces. 

"  Cut  offs  "  through  channels  that  led  straight  across 
were  often  most  deceptive  affairs,  the  swifter  currents 
nearly  always  swinging  around  the  great  bends  of  the 
river.  Especially  bad  was  a  peculiarly  seductive  ' '  cut- 
off "  with  a  tempting  by  swift  current  as  you  entered  it, 
caused  by  its  flowing  over  a  shallow  bar,  whereupon  the 
current  would  rapidly  and  almost  immediately  deepen 
and  would  consequently  slow  down  to  a  rate  that  was 
provoking  beyond  measure,  especially  as  one  saw  one's 
self  overtaken  by  piece  after  piece  of  drift-timber  that 
by  keeping  to  the  main  channel  had  "  taken  the  longest 
way  around  as  the  shortest  way  home,  "  and  beaten  us 
by  long  odds  in  the  race.  And  worse  than  all  it  was  not 
always  possible  to  avoid  getting  in  these  side  "sloughs 


144  ALONG  ALASKA'S  GREAT  RIVER 

of  despond,"  even  when  we  had  learned  their  tempting 
little  tricks  of  offering  us  a  swifter  current  at  the  en- 
trance, for  this  very  swiftness  produced  a  sort  of  suction 
on  the  surface  water  that  drew  in  every  thing  that 
passed  within  a  distance  of  the  width  of  its  entrance. 

Of  submerged  obstructions,  snags  were  of  little 
account,  for  the  great  ponderous  craft  would  go  plowing 
through  and  casting  aside  some  of  the  most  formidable 
of  them.  I  doubt  very  much  if  snags  did  us  as  much 
harm  as  benefit,  for  as  they  always  indicated  shoal 
water,  and  were  easily  visible,  especially  with  glasses, 
they  often  served  us  as  beacons.  I  saw  very  few  of  the 
huge  snags  which  have  received  the  appellation  of  "saw- 
yers" on  the  Mississippi  and  Missouri,  and  are  so  much 
dreaded  by  the  navigators  of  those  waters. 

Sand,  mud  and  gravel  bars  were  by  far  the  worst 
obstruction  we  had  to  contend  with,  and  I  think  I  have 
given  them  in  the  order  of  their  general  perversity  in  raft 
navigation,  sand  being  certainly  the  worst  and  gravel 
the  slightest. 

Sand  bars  and  spits  were  particularly  aggravating,  and 
when  the  great  gridiron  of  logs  ran  up  on  one  cf  them  in 
a  swift  current  there  was  "fun  ahead,"  to  use  a  western 
expression  of  negation.  Sometimes  the  mere  jumping 
overboard  of  all  the  crew  would  lighten  the  craft  so  that 
she  would  fioat  forward  a  few  yards,  and  in  lucky  instan- 
ces might  clear  the  obstruction  ;  but  this  was  not  often 
the  case,  and  those  who  made  preparations  for  hard  work 
were  seldom  disappointed.  In  a  swift  current  the  run- 
ning water  would  sweep  out  the  sand  around  the  logs  of 
the  raft  until  its  buoyancy  would  prevent  its  sinking  any 
deeper,  and  out  of  this  rut  the  great  bulky  thing  would 


I  "III  i'l'  mi' 

inmm 


A  CHAPTER  ABOUT  RAFTING.  147 

have  to  be  lifted  before  it  would  budge  an  inch  in  a 
lateral  direction,  and  when  this  was  accomplished,  and, 
completely  fagged  out,  we  would  stoj)  to  take  a  breath 
or  two,  we  would  often  be  gratified  by  seeing  our  noble 
craft  sink  down  again,  necessitating  a  repetition  of  the 
process.  The  simplest  way  to  get  off  a  sand  bar  was  to 
find  (by  sounding  with  a  stick  or  simply  wading  around), 
the  point  nearest  to  a  deep  navigable  channel  and  then  to 
swing  the  raft,  end  for  end,  up  stream,  even  against  the 
swiftest  current  that  might  come  boiling  over  the  upper 
logs,  until  that  channel  was  reached.  There  was  nc  more 
happy  moment  in  a  day's  history  than  when,  after  an 
hour  or  so  had  been  spent  in  prying  the  vessel  inch  by 
inch  against  the  current,  we  could  finally  see  the  current 
catch  it  on  the  same  side  upon  w^hich  we  were  working 
and  perform  the  last  half  of  our  task  in  a  few  seconds, 
where  perhaps  we  had  spent  as  many  hours  upon  our 
portion  of  the  work.  At  one  bad  place,  on  the  upper 
end  of  an  island,  we  had  to  swing  our  forty-two  foot 
corvette  around  four  times.  Our  longest  detention  by  a 
sand  bar  was  three  hours  and  fifty  minutes. 

Mud  bars  were  not  nearly  so  bad,  unless  the  material 
was  of  a  clayey  consistency,  when  a  little  adhesiveness 
would  be  added  to  the  other  impediments,  and  again,  as 
we  always  endeavored  to  keep  in  the  swift  water  we  sel- 
dom encountered  a  mud  bar.  But  when  one  occurred 
near  to  a  camping  place,  it  materially  interfered  with  our 
wading  ashore  with  our  heavy  camping  effects  on  our 
backs,  and  would  reduce  our  rubber  boots  to  a  deplora- 
ble looking  condition.  Elsewhere,  it  was  possible  to  j)ry 
the  raft  right  through  a  mud  bank,  by  dint  of  muscle 
and  patience,  and  then  we  could  sit  down  on  the  outer 


t48  ALONG  ALASKA'S  GREAT  RIVER. 

lof^s  of  the  deck  and  wasli  onr  boots  in  the  water  at  lei- 
sure as  we  floated  along.  Our  raft  drew  from  twenty  to 
twenty-two  inches  of  water,  and  of  course  it  could  not 
ground  in  any  tiling  deeper,  so  that  good  rubber  boots 
coming  up  over  the  thighs  kept  our  feet  comparatively 
dry  when  overboard  ;  but  there  were  times  when  we  were 
compelled  to  get  in  almost  to  our  middle  ;  and  when  the 
water  was  so  swift  that  it  boiled  up  over  their  tops  and 
filled  them  they  were  about  as  useless  an  article  as 
can  be  imagined,  so  that  we  went  into  all  such  places 
barefooted. 

The  best  of  all  the  bars  were  those  of  gravel,  and  the 
larger  and  coarser  the  pebbles  the  better.  When  the 
pebbles  were  well  cemented  into  a  firm  bed  by  a  binding 
of  clay  almost  as  solid  and  unyielding  as  rock,  we  could 
asl\  nothing  better,  and  in  such  cases  we  always  went  to 
work  with  cheerful  prospects  of  a  speedy  release.  By 
simply  lifting  the  raft  with  pries  the  swift  current  throws 
it  forward,  and  since  it  does  not  settle  as  in  sand,  every 
exertion  tells.  By  turning  the  raft  broadside  to  the  cur- 
rent and  prying  or  "biting "  at  each  end  of  the  ''boat " 
alternately,  with  our  whole  force  of  pries,  leaving  the 
swift  water  to  throw  her  forward,  we  passed  over  gravel 
bars  on  which  I  do  not  think  the  water  was  o\'er  ten  or 
eleven  inches  deep,  although  the  raft  drew  twice  as  much. 
One  of  the  gravel  bars  over  which  we  passed  in  this  man- 
ner was  fully  thirty  or  forty  yards  in  length. 

In  aggravated  cases  of  whatever  nature  the  load  would 
have  to  be  taken  off,  carried  on  our  backs  through  the 
water  and  placed  on  the  shore,  and  when  the  raft  was 
cleared  or  freed  from  the  obstruction  it  would  be  brought 
alongside  the  bank  at  the  very  first  f.norable  spot  for 


A  CHAPTER  ABOUT  RAFTim.  143 

reloading.  Such  cases  occurred  fully  a  score  of  times 
during  our  voyage.  AVlien  the  raft  stranded  on  a  bar 
with  the  water  on  each  side  so  deep  that  we  could  not 
wade  ashore,  the  canoe  was  used  for  "lightering  the  load," 
an  extremely  slow  process  which,  fortunately,  we  were 
obliged  to  employ  only  once  on  the  whole  raft  journey, 
although  several  times  in  wading  the  water  came  up  to 
our  waists  before  we  could  get  to  shore.  In  fact,  with  a 
heavy  load  on  one's  back  or  shoulders,  it  is  evidently 
much  easier  to  wade  through  water  of  that  depth  and 
proportional  current  than  through  very  swift  water  over 
shallow  bars. 

Looking  back,  it  seems  almost  miraculous  that  a  raft 
could  make  a  voyage  of  over  thirteen  hundred  miles,  the 
most  difficult  part  of  which  was  unknown,  starting  at 
the  very  head  where  the  stream  was  so  narrow  that  the 
raft  would  have  been  brought  at  a  standstill  if  it  swung 
out  of  a  straight  course  end  on  (as  it  did  in  the  Payer 
Rapids),  and  covering  nearly  two  months  of  daily 
encounters  with  snags  and  bowlders,  sticking  on  bars  and 
shooting  rapids,  and  yet  get  through  almost  unscathed. 
When  I  started  to  build  this  one  on  Lake  Lindeman  I 
had  anticipated  constructing  two  or  three  of  these  primi- 
tive craft  before  I  could  exchange  to  good  and  sufficient 
native  or  civilized  transportation. 

The  raft  is  undoubtedly  the  oldest  form  of  navigation 
extant,  and  undoubtedly  the  worst ;  it  is  interesting  to 
know  just  how  useful  the  raft  can  be  as  an  auxiliary  to 
geographical  exploration,  and  certainly  my  raft  journey 
was  long  enough  to  test  it  in  this  respect. 

The  raft,  of  course,  can  move  in  one  direction  only, 
viz.  :  with  the  current,  and  therefore  its  use   must  be 


150  ALONG  ALASKA'S  GREAT  RIVER. 

restricted  to  streams  whose  upper  waters  can  be  reached 
by  the  explorer.  The  traveler  must  be  able  to  escape  by 
the  mouth  of  the  stream  or  by  some  divergent  trail  lower 
down,  unless  his  explorations  prove  the  river  to  be  nav- 
igable for  such  craft  as  he  finds  on  its  lower  waters,  when 
he  may  use  these  for  returning.  The  buikling  of  a  raft 
requires  the  presence  of  good,  fair-sized  timber  along  the 
stream.  The  river  too,  must  offer  no  falls  of  any  great 
size.  My  journey,  however,  has  demonstrated  that  a 
well  constructed  raft  can  go  any  wliere,  subject  to  the 
above  restrictions,  that  a  boat  can,  at  least  such  a  boat  as 
is  usually  employed  by  explorers. 

I  know  of  nothing  that  can  give  an  explorer  a  better 
opportunity  to  delineate  the  topography  of  the  surround- 
ing country  with  such  instruments  as  are  commonly  used 
in  assisting  dead  reckoning,  than  is  afforded  by  float- 
ing down  a  river.  I  believe  the  steady  movement 
with  the  current  makes  ' '  dead  reckoning  ' '  much  more 
exact  than  with  a  boat,  where  the  rate  of  progress  is  vari- 
able, where  one  hour  is  spent  in  drifting  as  a  raft,  another 
in  rowing,  and  a  third  in  sailing  with  a  changeable  wind, 
and  where  each  mode  of  progress  is  so  abruptly  exchanged 
for  another.  Any  steady  pace,  such  as  the  walking  of  a 
man  or  ahorse,  or  the  floating  of  a  raft  carefully  kept  in 
the  axis  of  the  current,  makes  dead  reckoning  so  exact, 
if  long  practiced,  as  often  to  astonish  the  surveyor  him- 
self, but  every  thing  depends  upon  this  steadiness  of 
motion.  The  errors  in  dead  reckoning  of  Mr.  Homan,  my 
topographer,  in  running  from  Pyramid  Harbor  in  Chil 
kat  Inlet  to  Fort  Yukon,  both  carefully  determined  by 
astronomical  observations  and  over  a  thousund  miles 
apart,  was  less  than  one  per  cent.,  a  fact  which   proves 


A  CHAPTER  ABOUT  RAFTING.  151 

that  rafting  as  a  means  of  surveying  may  be  ranked  with 
any  method  that  requires  walking  or  riding,  and  far 
exceeds  any  method  in  use  by  explorers  ascending  a 
stream,  as  witness  any  map  of  the  Yukon  River  that 
attempts  to  show  the  position  of  Fort  Yukon,  before  it 
was  astronomically  determined  by  Captain  Raymond, 
Meridian  observations  of  the  sun  for  latitude  are  hard  to 
obtain,  for  the  reader  already  knows  what  a  task  it  is  to 
get  a  raft  into  camp.  This  difficulty  of  course  will  vary 
with  the  size  of  the  raft,  for  one  as  large  as  ours  would 
not  always  be  needed  and  a  small  one  can  be  more 
readily  handled  in  exploration.  While  rafting,  field 
photography,  now  so  much  used  by  exj^lorers,  is  very 
difficult,  as  it  can  only  be  achieved  at  camping  places 
unless  the  apparatus  is  carried  ashore  in  a  canoe,  if  the 
raftsmen  have  one  ;  and  the  ease  with  which  separated 
persons  can  lose  each  other  along  a  river  full  of  islands 
makes  this  kind  of  work  a  little  uncertain,  and  the  serv- 
ices of  a  good  artist  more  valuable. 

This  summary  covers  nearly  all  the  main  points  that 
are  strictly  connected  with  geographical  exploration,  in 
the  meaning  ordinarily  accepted  ;  but  on  expeditions 
where  this  exploration  is  the  main  object  there  are  often 
other  matters  of  a  scientific  nature  to  be  taken  into 
account,  such  as  the  geology,  botany,  and  zoology  of  the 
districts  traversed,  to  which  the  question  of  geograph- 
ical distribution  is  important,  and  for  all  these  objects 
researches  by  means  of  a  raft  are  at  considerable  disad- 
vantage. 

Also  in  rafting  there  is  a  slight  tendency  to  over-esti- 
mate the  length  of  the  stream,  although  the  map  may  be 
perfectly  accurate.     In  the  figure  on  page  152,  the  axis 


152 


ALONG  ALASKA'S  GREAT  RIVER. 


A  A' is  undoubtedly  the  accepted  Jine  on  wliich  to  esti- 
mate and  measure  the  lengtli  of  the  stream  between  those 
two  points,  and  it  is  equally  evident  to  one  familiar  with 
the  currents  of  a  river  that  some  such  line  as  RR'  would 
represent  the  course  of  a  floating  raft,  and  the  excess  of 
RR'  over  A  A',  both  being  developed,  would  be  the  error 
mentioned.  In  this  figure  the  relative  curves  are  exag- 
gerated to  showthe  principle  more  clearly.  Again,  every 
island  and  shoal  w^ould  materially  affect  this  somewhat 

mathematical  plan,  but  I 
think  even  these  would 
tend  to  produce  an  over- 
estimate. 

Drifting  close  along  the 


shores  of  an  island,  and 
nearing  its  lower  termina- 
tion, we  occasionally  were 
delayed  in  a  singular  man- 
ner, imless  prompt  to 
avoid  it.  A  long,  nar- 
row island,  with  tapering 
ends,  and  lying  directly 
in  the  course  of  the  cur- 
rent, gave  us  no  trouble  ; 
but  oftentimes  these 
lower  ends  were  very  blunt,  and  the  currents  at  the 
two  sides  came  at  all  angles  with  respect  to  the 
island  and  each  other,  and  this  was  especially  true  of 
large  groupings  of  islands  situated  in  abrupt  bends  of 
the  river.  To  take  about  the  worst  case  of  this  nature 
that  we  met,  imagine  a  blunted  island  with  the  current 
at  either  side  coming  in  at  an  angle  of  about  forty-five 


A  CHAPTER  ABOUT  RAFTING. 


153 


degrees  to  the  shore  line,  or  at  right  angles  to  each 
other,  as  I  have  tried  to  show  in  figure  on  this  page,  the 
arrows  showing  the  current.  At  some  point  below  the 
island  the  recurving  and  ex-curving  waters  neutralize 
each  other  in  a  huge  whirlpool  (W).  Between  W  and 
the  island  the  waters,  if  swift,  would  pour  back  in  strong, 
dancing  waves  like  tide-rips,  and  in  some  places  with 
such  force  as  to  cut  a  channel  (C)  into  the  island.     It  is 

evident  that  with  the 
raft  at  R,  it  is  neces- 
sary to  row  to  star- 
board as  far  as  R' 
before  W  is  reached, 
as  otherwise  it  would 
be  carried  back  against 
the  island.  We  got 
caught  in  one  violent 
whirlpool  that  turned 
the  huge  raft  around 
so  rapidly  that  I  be- 
lieve the  tender  stom- 
achs of  those  prone  to  sea-sickness  would  soon  have 
weakened  if  we  had  not  escaped  by  vigorous  efforts.  At 
great  angles  of  the  swift  water  and  broad-bnsed  islands 
I  have  seen  the  whirlpool  when  nearly  half  a  mile  from 
the  island,  and  they  were  usuallj^  visible  for  three  or  four 
hundred  yards  if  worth  noticing.  So  many  -conditions 
were  required  for  the  creation  of  these  obstacles  tKat  they 
were  not  common. 


CHAPTER  VII. 


THE   GKATsTD   CA^ON   OF  THE   YUKON. 


zUM 


GRAYLING. 


WE  slowly  floated  out  of  Lake 
Marsh  it  was  known  to  iis  by 
Indian  reports  that  somewhere 
not  far  ahead  on  the  course  of 
the  river  would  be  found  the 
longest  and  most  formidable 
rapid  on  the  entire  length  of  the 
great  stream.  At  these  rapids 
the  Indians  confidently  expected 
that  our  raft  would  go  to 
pieces,  and  we  were  therefore 
extremely  anxious  to  inspect 
them.  By  some  form  of  improper  interjiretation,  or  in 
some  other  way,  we  got  the  idea  into  our  heads  that 
these  rapids,  "  rushing,"  as  the  natives  described  them, 
•'through  a  dark  canon,"  would  be  reached  very  soon, 
that  is,  within  two  or  three  miles,  or  four  or  five  at  the 
furthest.  Accordingly  I  had  the  raft  beached  at  the  river' s 
entrance,  and  undertook,  with  the  doctor,  the  task  of 
walking  on  ahead  along  the  river  bank  to  inspect  them 
before  making  any  further  forward  movement,  after 
which  one  or  both  of  us  might  return.  After  a  short 
distance  I  continued  the  journey  alone,  the  doctor  re- 
turning to  start  the  raft.     I  hoped  to  be  at  the  upper 


THE  GRAND  CANON  OF  THE  YUKON.  155 

eud  of  the  rapids  by  the  time  she  came  in  sight  so  as  to 
signal  her  in  ample  time  for  her  to  reach  the  bank  from 
the  swiftest  current  in  the  center,  as  the  river  was  now 
five  or  six  hundred  yards  wide  in  places.  It  turned  out 
afterward  that  the  great  rapids  were  more  than  fifty 
miles  further  on. 

I  now  observed  that  this  new  stretch  of  river  much 
more  closely  resembled  some  of  the  streams  in  temperate 
climes  than  any  we  had  yet  encountered.  Its  flanking 
hillsides  of  rolling  ground  were  covered  with  spruce  and 
pine,  here  and  there  breaking  into  pleasant- looking 
grassy  prairies,  while  its  own  picturesque  valley  was 
densely  wooded  with  poplar  and  willows  of  several 
varieties.  These  latter,  in  fact,  encroached  so  closely 
upon  the  water's  edge,  and  in  such  impenetrable  con- 
fusion, that  camping  places  were  hard  to  find,  unless  a 
friendly  spur  from  the  hills,  covered  with  evergreens, 
under  which  a  little  elbow  room  might  be  had,  wedged 
its  way  down  to  the  river,  so  as  to  break  the  continuity 
of  these  willowy  barriers  to  a  night's  good  camping 
place.  The  raft's  corduroy  deck  of  pine  poles  often 
served  for  a  rough  night' s  lodging  to  some  of  the  party. 

Muskrats  were  plentiful  in  this  part  of  the  river,  and 
I  could  hear  them  "plumping"  into  the  water  from  the 
banks,  every  minute  or  two,  as  I  walked  along  them  ; 
and  afterward,  in  the  quiet  evenings,  these  animals 
might  at  once  be  traced  by  the  wedge-shaped  ripples 
they  made  on  the  surface  of  the  water  as  they  swam 
around  us. 

I  had  not  walked  more  than  two  or  three  miles, 
fighting  great  swarms  of  mosquitoes  all  the  way,  when  I 
came  to  a  peculiar  kind  of  creek  distinctive  of  this  por- 


156  ALONG  ALASKA'S  GREAT  RIVER, 

tion  of  the  river,  and  worth  describing.  It  was  not  very 
wide,  but  altogether  too  wide  to  jump,  with  slopes  of 
slippery  clay,  and  so  deep  that  I  could  not  see  bottom 
rior  touch  it  with  any  pole  that  I  could  find.  These 
singular  streams  have  a  current  seemingly  as  slow  as 
that  of  a  glacier,  and  the  one  that  stopi^ed  me — and  I 
suppose  all  the  rest — had  the  same  unvarying  canal-like 
width  for  over  half  a  mile  from  lis  mouth.  Beyond  this 
distance  I  dared  not  prolong  my  rambles  to  find  a  crossing 
place  for  fear  the  raft  might  pass  me  on  the  river,  so  J 
returned  to  its  mouth  and  waited,  lighting  mosquitoes, 
for  the  raft  to  come  along,  when  the  canoe  would  pick 
me  up.  In  my  walks  along  the  creek  I  found  laany 
moose  and  caribou  tracks,  some  of  them  loolving  large 
enough  to  belong  to  prize  cattle,  but  all  of  them  were 
old.  Probably  they  had  been  made  before  the  mosqui- 
toes became  so  numerous. 

The  lirst  traveler  along  the  river  was  one  of  our  vild 
Tahk-heesh  friends,  who  came  down  the  stream  paddling 
his  "  Cottonwood"  canoe  with  his  family,  a  squaw  and 
three  cliildren,  wedged  in  the  bottom.  He  partially 
comprehended  my  situation,  and  I  tried  hard  to  make 
him  understand  by  signs  that  I  wanted  simply  to  cross 
the  canal -like  creek  in  his  canoe,  w^hile  he,  evidently 
remembering  a  number  of  trifles  he  had  received  from 
members  of  the  party  at  a  few  camps  back,  thought  it 
incumbent  upon  him  to  take  me  a  short  way  down  the 
river,  by  way  of  a  quid  pro  quo,  to  which  I  did  not 
object,  especially  after  seeing  several  more  of  those  wide 
slack-water  tributaries,  and  as  I  still  supposed  that  the 
rapids  were  but  a  short  distance  ahead,  and  that  my 
Indian  guide  ex^Dected  to  camp  near  them.     The  rain 


THE  GRAND  CANON  OF  THE  YUKON.  157 

was  falling  in  a  persistent  drizzle,  wliicli,  coupled  with 
my  cramped  position  in  the  rickety  canoe,  made  me  feel 
any  thing  but  comfortable.  My  Indian  patron,  a  good 
natured  looking  old  fellow  of  about  fifty,  was  evidently 
feeling  worried  and  harassed  at  not  meeting  other 
Indians  of  his  tribe — for  he  had  previously  promised  me 
that  he  would  have  a  number  of  them  at  the  raj^ids  to 
portage  my  effects  around  it  if  my  raft  went  to  pieces  in 
shooting  them,  as  they  were  all  confident  it  Avould,  or  if 
I  determined  to  build  another  forthwith  at  a  point  below 
the  dangerous  portion  of  the  rapids — and  he  ceased  the 
not  unmusical  strokes  of  his  paddle  every  minute  or 
two  in  order  to  scan  with  a  keen  eye  the  river  banks  or 
the  hillsides  beyond,  or  to  listen  for  signals  in  reply  to 
the  prolonged  shouts  he  occasionally  emitted  from  his 
vigorous  lungs.  After  a  voyage  of  three  or  four  miles, 
he  became  discouraged,  and  diving  dov^ai  into  a  mass  of 
dirty  rags  and  strong-scented  Indian  bric-a  brae  of  all 
sorts  in  the  bottom  of  the  canoe,  he  fished  out  an  old 
brass-mounted  Hudson  Bay  Company  flintlock  horse- 
pistol,  an  object  occasionally  found  in  the  possession  of 
a  well-to-do  Yukon  River  savage.  He  took  out  the 
bullet,  which  he  did  not  desire  to  lose,  and  held  it  in  his 
teeth,  and  pointing  the  unstable  weapon  most  uncom- 
fortably close  to  my  head,  pulled  the  trigger,  although 
from  all  I  have  seen  of  these  weapons  of  destruction  (to 
powder)  I  imagine  the  butt  end  of  the  pistol  was  the 
most  dangerous.  The  report  resounded  through  the 
hills  and  valleys  with  a  thundering  vibration,  as  if  the 
weapon  had  been  a  small  cannon,  but  awakened  no  reply 
of  any  kind,  and  as  it  was  getting  well  along  into  the 
evening  my  "Stick"  friend  pointed  his  canoe  for  an  old 


158  ALONG  ALASKA'S  GREA  T  KIVEB. 

camping  j^lace  on  the  east  bank  of  the  river  (although, 
the  boat  was  so  warped  and  its  nose  so  broken  that  one 
might  almost  have  testified  to  its  pointing  in  any  other 
direction),  and  with  a  few  strokes  of  his  paddle  he  was 
soon  on  shore.  Thereupon  I  went  into  the  simplest  camp 
I  had  ever  occupied,  for  all  that  was  done  was  to  pull 
an  old  piece  of  riddled  canvas  over  a  leaning  pole  and 
crawl  under  it  and  imagine  that  it  kept  out  the  rain, 
which  it  did  about  as  effectually  as  if  it  had  been  a  huge 
crochet  tidy.  My  companions,  however,  did  not  seem  to 
mind  the  rain  very  much,  their  only  apparent  objection 
to  it  being  that  it  prevented  their  kindling  a  fire  with 
their  usual  apparatus  of  steel  and  damp  tinder  ;  and 
when  I  gave  them  a  couple  of  matches  they  were  so  pro- 
fuse in  their  thanks  and  their  gratitude  seemed  so  genu- 
ine, that  I  gave  them  all  I  had  with  me,  probably  a 
couple  of  dozen,  when  they  overwhelmed  me  with  their 
grateful  appreciation,  until  I  was  glad  to  change  the 
subject  to  a  passing  muskrat  and  a  few  ducks  that  were 
swimming  by.  I  could  not  help  contrasting  their  beha- 
vior with  that  of  the  more  arrogant  Chilkats.  They 
seemed  much  more  like  Eskimo  in  their  rude  hospitality 
and  docility  of  nature,  although  I  doubt  if  they  equal 
them  in  personal  bravery. 

There  is  certainly  one  good  thing  about  a  rain-storm 
in  Alaska,  however,  and  that  is  the  repulsion  that  exists 
between  a  moving  drop  of  rain  and  a  comparatively  sta- 
tionary mosquito  when  the  two  come  in  contact,  and 
which  beats  down  the  latter  with  a  most  comforting 
degree  of  pertinacity.  Mosquitoes  evidently  know  how 
to  protect  themselves  from  tlie  pelting  rain  under  the 
broad  deciduous  leaves,  or  under  the  lee  of  trees  and 


THE  GRAND  CANON  01    THE  YUKON.  ^59 

brandies,  for  the  instant  it  ceases  tliey  are  all  out,  appa- 
rently more  voracious  than  ever.  All  along  this  bank 
near  the  Indians'  camp,  the  dense  willow  brake  crawled 
up  and  leaned  over  the  water,  and  I  feared  there  was  no 
camping  place  to  be  found  for  my  axoproaching  party, 
until  after  walking  back  about  half  a  mile  I  espied  a 
place  where  a  little  spur  of  spruce-clad  hillocks  infringed 
on  the  shore.  Here  I  halted  the  raft  and  we  made  an 
uncomfortable  camj).  Fish  of  some  kind  kept  jumping 
in  the  river,  but  the  most  seductive  ' '  flies ' '  Avere  unre- 
warded with  a  single  bite,  although  the  weather  was  not 
of  the  kind  to  tempt  one  either  to  hunt  or  fish. 

The  next  day,  the  30th  of  June,  was  but  little  better 
as  far  as  the  weather  was  concerned,  and  we  got  away 
late  from  our  camp,  having  overslept  ourselves.  Our 
Tahkheesh  friend,  with  his  family,  now  preceded  us  in 
his  canoe  for  the  purpose  of  indicating  the  rapids  in 
good  season  ;  but  of  course  he  disappeared  ahead  of  us 
around  every  bend  and  island,  so  as  to  keep  us  feeling 
more  anxious  about  it.  At  one  time,  about  eight  o'clock 
in  the  evening — our  Tahkheesh  guide  out  of  sight  for  the 
last  half  hour — we  plainly  heard  a  dull  roaring  ahead  of 
us  as  we  swung  around  a  high  broken  clay  bluff, 
and  were  clearly  conscious  of  the  fact  that  we  were 
shooting  forward  at  a  more  rapid  pace.  Thinking  that 
discretion  was  the  better  part  of  valor,  the  raft  was 
rapidly  swung  inshore  with  a  bump  that  almost  upset 
the  whole  crew,  and  a  prospecting  party  were  sent  down 
stream  to  walk  along  the  bank  until  they  found  out  the 
cause  of  the  sound,  a  plan  which  very  soon  revealed 
that  there  were  noisy,  shallow  rapids  extending  a  short 
distance  out  into  the  bend  of  the  river,  but  they  were 


:60  ALONG  ALASKA'S  GREAT  RIVER, 

not  serious  enough  to  have  stopped  us  ;  at  least  they 
would  have  been  of  no  consequence  if  we  haa  not  landed 
in  the  lirst  place,  but,  as  matters  stood,  they  were 
directly  in  front  of  our  position  on  the  shore,  and  so 
swift  was  the  current  that  we  could  not  get  out  fast 
enough  into  the  stream  with  our  two  oars  to  avoid  stick 
ing  on  the  rough  bar  of  gravel  and  bowlders.  Shortly 
after  the  crew  had  jumped  off,  and  just  as  they  were  pre- 
paring to  i^ry  the  raft  around  into  the  deeper  water  of 
the  stream,  the  most  violent  splashing  and  floundering 
was  heafd  on  the  outer  side  of  the  craft,  and  it  was  soon 
found  that  a  goodly-sized  and  beautifully-sjDotted  gray- 
ling had  hooked  himself  to  a  fish-line  that  some  one  had 
allowed  to  trail  over  the  outer  logs  in  the  excitement  of 
attending  to  the  more  important  duties  connected  with 
the  supposed  rapids.  He  was  rapidly  taken  from  the 
hook,  and  when  the  line  was  again  thrown  over  into  the 
ripples  another  immediately  repeated  the  operation,  and 
it  soon  became  evident  that  we  were  getting  into  the  very 
best  of  fishing  waters,  the  first  w^e  had  discovered  of  that 
character  on  the  river.  After  the  raft  was  swung  clear 
of  the  outer  bowlders  of  the  reef  and  had  started  once 
more  on  its  way  down  stream,  several  lines,  poles  and 
flies  were  gotten  out,  and  it  was  quite  entertaining  to  see 
the  long  casts  that  were  attempted  as  we  rushed  by  dis- 
tant ripx)les  near  the  curve  of  the  banks.  More  than  one 
of  these  casts,  however,  proved  successful  in  landing  a 
fine  grayling.  A  jump  and  a  splash  and  a  miss,  and 
there  was  no  more  chance  at  that  ripple  for  the  same 
iish,  for  by  the  time  a  recover  and  a  cast  could  be  made 
the  raft  was  nearly  alongside  of  another  temi)ting 
place,  so  swift  was  the  river  and  so  numerous  the  clean 


THE  GRAND  CANON  OF  THE  YUKON.  161 

gravel  bars  jutting  into  it  at  every  bend.  Many  a  pretty 
grayling  would  come  sailing  tlirougli  the  air  like  a  ily- 
ing  squirrel  and  unhooking  himself  en  route.,  with  a 
quick  splash  would  disappear  through  the  logs  of  the 
raft,  with  no  other  injury  than  a  good  bump  of  his  nose 
against  the  rough  bark,  and  no  doubt  ready  to  thank  his 
stars  that  his  captors  were  not  on  land.  Passing  over 
shallow  bottoms  covered  with  white  pebbles,  especially 
those  shoaling  down  stream  from  the  little  bars  of  which 
I  have  spoken,  a  quick  eye  could  often  detect  great 
numbers  of  fish,  evidently  grayling,  with  their  heads 
up  stream  and  propelling  their  tails  just  enough  to 
remain  over  the  same  si)ot  on  the  bottom,  in  the  swift 
current.  That  evening  we  camped  very  late — about  10 
p.  M. — having  hojDes  to  the  last  that  we  might  reach  the 
upper  end  of  the  Grand  Canon.  Our  Stick  guide  had 
told  us  that  when  we  saw  the  mouth  of  a  small  stream 
coming  in  from  the  west  and  spreading  out  in  a  mass  of 
foam  over  the  rocks  at  the  point  of  confluence,  we  could 
be  sure  of  finding  the  great  canon  within  half  a  mile.  An 
accurate  census  of  small  creeks  answering  exactly  to 
that  description  having  been  taken,  gave  a  total  of  about 
two  dozen,  with  another  still  in  view  ahead  of  us  as  we 
camped.  Knowing  the  penchant  of  our  fishy  friends 
for  half-submerged  gravel  bars,  our  camp  was  picked 
with  reference  to  them,  and  near  it  there  were  two  of 
such  bars  running  out  into  the  stream.  Some  fifty  or 
sixty  grayling  were  harvested  by  the  three  lines  that 
were  kept  going  until  about  eleven  o'clock,  by  which 
time  it  was  too  dark  to  fish  with  any  comfort,  for  the 
heavy  banked  clouds  in  the  sky  brought  on  darkness 
much  earlier  than  usual.      Red  and  white  mixed  flies 


162  ALONG  ALASKA'S  GREAT  RIVER. 

were  eagerly  snapped  by  the  voracious  and  active  creat- 
ures, and  as  the  evening  shadows  deepened,  a  resort  to 
more  white  in  the  mixture  kept  up  the  exhilarating  sport 
until  it  was  too  dark  for  the  fisherman  to  see  his  fly  on 
the  water.  The  grayling  caught  that  evening  seemed  to 
be  of  two  very  distinct  sizes,  without  any  great  number 
of  intermediate  sizes,  the  larger  averaging  about  a  pound 
in  weight,  the  smaller  about  one-fourth  as  much.  So 
numerous  and  voracious  were  they  that  two  or  three  flies 
were  kept  on  one  line,  and  two  at  a  cast  were  several 
times  caught,  and  triplets  once. 

On  the  morning  of  July  1st,  we  approached  the  great 
rapids  of  the  Grand  Canon  of  the  Yukon.  Just  as  I  had 
expected,  our  Tahkheesh  guide  in  his  cottonwood  canoe 
was  non  est,  until  we  were  within  sight  of  the  upper  end 
of  the  canon  and  its  boiling  waters,  and  tearing  along  at 
six  or  seven  miles  an  hour,  when  we  caught  sight  of  him 
frantically  gesticulating  to  us  that  the  rapids  were  in 
sight,  which  was  plainly  evident,  even  to  us.  He  prob- 
ably thought  that  our  ponderous  raft  was  as  manageable 
in  the  seething  current  as  his  own  light  craft,  or  he  never 
would  have  allowed  us  to  get  so  near.  In  the  twinkling 
of  an  eye  we  got  ashore  the  first  line  that  came  to  hand, 
and  there  was  barely  time  to  make  both  ends  fast,  one 
on  the  raft  and  the  other  to  a  convenient  tree  on  the 
bank,  before  the  spinning  raft  came  suddenly  to  the  end 
of  her  tether  with  a  snappish  twang  that  made  the  little 
rope  sing  like  a  musical  string.  Why  that  little  quarter- 
inch  manilla  did  not  part  seems  a  mystery,  even  yet, — it 
was  a  mere  government  flagstaff  lanyard  that  we  had 
brought  along  for  packing  purposes,  etc. — but  it  held  on  as 
if  it  knew  the  importance  of  its  task,  and  with  the  swift 


ta  M 


5.  C 

><  W 

o  > 

p  IV 

o  O 
p 

O  Q 

B  > 

(0  Q 

'  O 

o 

3  H 

"  72 

J?  O 

i  3 

o  W 

§  ^ 

M 

a 


THE  GRAND  CANON  OF  THE  FUKON.  165 

water  pouring  in  a  sheet  of  foam  over  the  stern  of  the 
shackled  raft,  she  slowly  swung  into  an  eddy  under  the 
lee  of  a  gravel  bar  where  she  was  soon  securely  fastened, 
whereupon  we  prepared  to  make  an  inspection  of  our 
chief  impediment.  A  laborious  survey  of  three  or  four 
hours'  duration,  exposed  to  heat  and  mosquitoes,  revealed 
that  the  rapids  were  about  five  miles  long  and  in  appear- 
ance formidable  enough  to  repel  any  one  who  might  con- 
template making  the  passage  even  in  a  good  boat,  while 
such  an  attempt  seemed  out  of  the  question  with  an  un- 
manageable raft  like  ours. 

The  Yukon  River,  which  had  previously  been  about 
three  hundred  or  three  hundred  and  fifty  yards  in  width, 
gradually  contracts  as  it  nears  the  upper  gate  of  the 
canon  and  at  the  point  where  the  streanj  enters  it  in  a 
high  white-capped  wave  of  rolling  water,  I  do  not  be- 
lieve its  width  exceeds  one-tenth  of  that  distance.  The 
walls  of  the  canon  are  perpendicular  columns  of  basalt, 
not  unlike  a  diminutive  FingaTs  cave  in  appearance,  and 
nearly  a  mile  in  length,  the  center  of  this  mile  stretch 
being  broken  into  a  huge  basin  of  about  twice  the  usual 
width  of  the  stream  in  the  canon,  and  which  is  full  of 
seething  whirlpools  and  eddies  where  nothing  but  a  fish 
could  live  for  a  minute.  On  the  western  rim  of  this 
basin  it  seems  as  though  one  might  descend  to  the 
water's  edge  with  a  little  Alpine  work.  Through  this 
narrow  chute  of  corrugated  rock  the  wild  waters  of  the 
great  river  rush  in  a  perfect  mass  of  milk-like  foam,  with 
a  reverberation  that  is  audible  for  a  considerable  dis- 
tance, the  roar  being  intensified  by  the  rocky  walls  which 
act  like  so  many  sounding  boards.  Huge  spruce  trees 
in  somber  files  overshadow  the  dark  caiion,  and  it  re- 


166  ALONG  ALASKA'S  GREAT  RIVER. 

sembles  a  deep  black  thoronghfare  paved  with  the  whit- 
est of  marble.  At  the  northern  outlet  of  the  canon,  the 
rushing  river  spreads  rapidly  into  its  former  width,  but 
abates  not  a  jot  of  its  swiftness,  and  flows  in  a  white  and 
shallow  sheet  over  reefs  of  bowlders  and  bars  thickly- 
studded  with  intertwining  drifts  of  huge  timber,  ten 
times  more  dangerous  for  a  boat  or  raft  than  the  narrow 
canon  itself,  although  perhaps  not  so  in  appearance. 
This  state  of  things  continues  for  about  four  miles 
further,  offering  every  possible  variety  of  obstacle  in 
turn,  when  the  river  again  contracts,  hemmed  in  by  low 
basaltic  banks,  and  becomes  even  narrower  than  before. 
So  swift  is  it,  so  great  the  volume  of  water,  and  so  con- 
tracted the  channel,  that  half  its  water  ascends  the  slop- 
ing banks,  runs  over  them  for  nearly  a  score  of  yards, 
and  then  falls  into  the  narrow  chute  below,  making  a 
veritable  horseshoe  funnel  of  boiling  cascades,  not  much 
wider  than  the  length  of  our  raft,  and  as  high  at  the  end 
as  her  mast.  Through  this  funnel  of  foam  the  waves 
ran  three  or  four  feet  high,  and  this  fact,  added  to  the 
boiling  that  often  forced  up  columns  of  water  like  small 
geysers  quite  a  considerable  distance  into  the  air,  made 
matters  very  uninviting  for  navigation  in  any  sort  of 
craft. 

Every  thing  being  in  readiness,  our  inspection  made, 
and  our  resolution  formed,  in  the  forenoon  of  the  second 
of  July,  we  prepared  to  "shoot"  the  raft  though  the 
rapids  of  the  grand  canon,  and  at  11:25  the  bow  and 
stern  lines  were  cast  loose  and  after  a  few  minutes'  hard 
work  at  shoving  the  craft  out  of  the  little  eddy  where 
she  lay,  the  poor  vessel  resisting  as  if  she  knew  all  that 
was  ahead  of  her  and  was  loth  to  go,  she  finally  swung 


THE  GRAND  CANON  OF  THE  YUKON.  167 

clear  of  the  point  and  like  a  racer  at  the  start  made 
almost  a  leap  forward  and  the  die  was  cast.  A  moment's 
hesitation  at  the  canon's  brink,  and  quick  as  a  flash  the 
whirling  craft  plunged  into  the  foam,  and  before  twenty 
yards  were  made  had  collided  with  the  western  wall  of 
columnar  rock  with  a  shock  as  loud  as  a  blast,  tearing 
off  the  inner  side  log  and  throwing  the  outer  one  far  into 
the  stream.  The  raft  swung  around  this  as  upon  a  hinge, 
just  as  if  it  had  been  a  straw  in  a  gale  of  wind,  and 
again  resumed  its  rapid  career.  In  the  whirlpool  basin 
of  the  canon  the  craft,  for  a  brief  second  or  two,  seemed 
actually  buried  out  of  sight  in  the  foam.  Had  there 
been  a  dozen  giants  on  board  they  could  have  had  no 
more  influence  in  directing  her  course  than  as  many 
spiders.  It  was  a  very  simple  matter  to  trust  the  rude 
vessel  entirely  to  fate,  and  work  out  its  own  salvation. 
I  was  most  afraid  of  the  four  miles  of  shallow  raj)ids 
below  after  the  canon,  but  she  only  received  a  dozen  or  a 
score  of  smart  bumps  that  started  a  log  here  and  there,  but 
tore  none  from  the  structure,  and  nothing  remained  ahead 
of  her  but  the  cascades.  These  reached,  in  a  few  minutes 
the  craft  was  caught  at  the  bow  by  the  first  high  wave  in  the 
funnel-like  chute  and  lifted  into  the  air  until  it  stood 
almost  at  an  angle  of  thirty  degrees,  when  it  went  through 
the  cascades  like  a  charge  of  fixed  bayonets,  and  almost 
as  swiftly  as  a  flash  of  light,  burying  its  nose  in  the  foam 
beyond  as  it  subsided.  Those  on  board  of  the  raft  now 
got  hold  of  a  line  from  their  friends  on  shore,  and  after 
breaking  it  several  times  they  finally  brought  the  craft 
alongside  the  bank  and  commenced  repairing  the  dam- 
age with  a  light  heart,  for  our  greatest  obstacle  was  now 
at  our  backs. 


168  ALONG  ALASKA'S  GREAT  RIVER. 

Near  the  spot  where  we  camped,  just  below  the  cas- 
cades that  terminated  the  long  rapids,  was  found  a  small 
grove  of  sapling  spruce  through  which  the  fire  had  swept 
a  year  or  two  before,  and  the  trees  were  thoroughly  sea- 
soned and  sound,  the  black  burned  bark  peeling  as  freely 
from  them  as  the  hull  of  a  chestnut,  leaving  excellent  light 
and  tough  poles  with  which  we  renewed  our  two  decks, 
our  constant  walking  over  the  old  ones  having  converted 
them  into  somewhat  unsatisfactory  places  for  j)romenades 
unless  one  carefully  watched  his  footsteps.  Evidences 
of  conflagration  in  the  dense  coniferous  forests  were 
everywhere  frequent,  the  fires  arising  from  the  careless- 
ness of  the  Indian  campers,  and  from  the  making  of 
signal  smokes,  and  even  it  is  said,  from  design,  with  the 
idea  of  clearing  the  district  of  mosquitoes.  While  wait- 
ing at  the  cascades  of  the  rapids  to  repair  our  raft,  our 
fishing  tackle  was  kept  busy  to  such  an  extent  that  we 
landed  between  four  and  five  hundred  fine  grayling,  a 
fishing  ground  that  excelled  any  we  afterward  found  on 
the  Yukon  River. 

Our  favorite  fishing  place  was  just  below  the  cascades, 
where  a  number  of  the  disintegrating  columns  of  basalt 
had  fallen  in,  forming  a  talus  along  which  we  could  walk 
between  the  water  and  the  wall.  A  little  beyond  the 
wall  itself  sloped  down  and  ran  close  beside  the  little 
ripples  where  we  were  always  sure  of  a  "rise"  when  the 
grayling  would  bite.  This  was  nearly  always  in  the  cool 
of  the  mornings  or  evenings,  or  in  the  middle  of  the  day 
when  even  a  few  light  fleecy  clouds  floated  over  the  sun. 
Yet  there  were  times  when  they  would  cease  biting  as 
suddenly  as  if  they  were  disciplined  and  under  orders, 
and  that  without  any  apparent  reason,  returning  to  the 


THE  GRAND  CANON  OF  THE  YUKON.  W'J 

bait  just  as  suddenly  and  as  mysteriously.  Light 
northern  winds  brought  fine  sunny  weather,  and  with  it 
a  perfect  deluge  of  light  brown  millers  or  moths  migrat- 
ing southward,  thousands  of  which  tumbled  in  the 
waters  of  the  river  and  filled  every  eddy  with  their  float- 
ing bodies.     These  kept  the  grayling  busy  snapping  at 


Sp:S^^ePii^^id.i . 


THE    CASCADES    AT    THE    EN'D    OF    THE    GREAT    RAPIDS. 
Head  of  Navigation  on  the  Yukon,  1866  miles  from  Aphoon  mouth. 

them,  and  indicated  to  a  certain  degree  when  to  go  fishing, 
but  still  it  was  remarkable  that  our  efforts  should  be  so 
well  rewarded  when  there  were  so  many  living,  struggling 
bait  to  tempt  them  away  from  our  flies.  Strangest  of  all 
we  were  most  successful  when  casting  with  brown  flies. 
The  m.illers  caught  by  the  water  and  drifted  into  eddies 
would  not  be  touched,  and  it  was  only  when  a  solitary 
moth  came  floating  along  beating  its  wings  and  fluttering 


170  ALONG  ALASKA'S  GREAT  RIVER. 

on  the  surface  around  the  swiftest  corners  that  a  spring 
for  it  was  at  all  certain,  and  even  then  a  brown  hackle 
dancing  around  in  the  same  place  would  monopolize 
every  rise  within  the  radius  of  a  fish's  eyesight.  Our 
Talik-heesh  friends,  who  had  been  made  useful  by  us  in 
several  ways,  such  as  carrying  effects  over  the  portage, 
helping  with  poles  and  logs,  and  so  on,  were  as  much 
surprised  at  this  novel  mode  of  fishing  as  the  grayling 
themselves,  and  expressed  their  astonishment,  in  guttural 
grunts.  They  regarded  themselves  as  admitted  to  high 
favor  when  we  gave  them  a  few  of  the  flies  as  presents. 
They  ate  all  the  spare  grayling  we  chose  to  give  them, 
which  was  often  nearly  a  dozen  apiece,  and,  in  fact,  dur- 
ing the  three  or  four  days  we  were  together  their  subsis- 
tence was  almost  altogether  derived  from  this  source,  as 
we  had  no  provisions  to  spare  them.  The  largest  gray- 
ling we  caught  weighed  two  pounds  and  a  quarter,  but 
we  had  the  same  invariable  two  sizes  already  mentioned, 
with  here  and  there  a  slight  deviation  in  grade.  These 
grayling  were  the  most  persistent  biters  I  ever  saw  rise 
to  a  fly,  and  more  uncertain  than  these  uncertain  fish 
usually  are  in  grasping  for  a  bait,  for  there  were  times 
when  I  really  believe  we  got  fifty  or  sixty  rises  from  a 
single  fish  before  he  was  hooked  or  the  contest  aban- 
doned. 

The  portage  made  by  the  Indians  around  the  canon 
and  rapids  was  over  quite  a  high  ridge  just  the  length  of 
the  canon,  and  then  descended  abruptly  with  a  dizzy 
incline  into  a  valley  which,  after  continuing  nearly  down 
to  the  cascades,  again  ascended  a  sandy  hill  that  was 
very  difficult  to  climb.  The  hilly  part  around  the  canon 
was  pretty  thoroughly  covered  with  small  pines  and 


THE  GRAND  CANON  OF  THE  YUKON.  171 

spruce,  and  all  along  the  portage  trail  some  miners  who 
had  been  over  it  had  cut  these  down  near  the  path  and 
felled  them  across  it,  and  had  then  barked  them  on  their 
upper  sides,  forming  stationary  skids  along  which  they 
could  drag  their  whip-sawed  boats.  Two  large  logs 
placed  together  on  the  steep  declivity,  and  well  trimmed 
of  their  limbs  and  bark,  made  good  inclines  on  which  the 
boat  or  boats  could  be  lowered  into  the  valley  below. 
Here  they  had  floated  their  boats  by  towlines  down  to 
the  cascades,  around  which  point  they  had  again  dragged 
them.  It  may  readily  be  imagined  that  such  a  chapparal 
of  felled  brush  and  poles  across  our  path  did  not  improve 
the  walking  in  the  least.  It  was  a  continued  case  of 
hurdle  walking  the  whole  distance.  The  day  we  w^alked 
over  the  trail  on  the  eastern  side  of  the  canon  and  rapids 
was  one  of  the  hottest  and  most  insufferable  I  ever 
experienced,  and  every  time  we  sat  down  it  was  only  to 
have  "  a  regular  down-east  fog  "  of  mosquitoes  come  buz- 
zing around,  and  the  steady  swaying  of  arms  and  the 
constant  slapping  of  the  face  was  an  exercise  fully  as 
vigorous  as  that  of  traveling.  Our  only  safe  plan  was 
to  walk  along  brandishing  a  great  handful  of  evergreens 
from  shoulder  to  shoulder.  As  we  advanced  the  mos- 
quitoes invariably  kept  the  same  distance  ahead,  as  if 
they  had  not  the  remotest  idea  we  were  coming  toward 
them.  An  occasional  vicious  reach  forward  through  the 
mass  with  the  evergreens  would  have  about  as  much 
effect  in  removing  them  as  it  would  in  dispersing  the 
same  amount  of  fog,  for  it  seemed  as  if  they  could  dodge 
a  streak  of  lightning.  Nothing  w^as  better  than  a  good 
strong  wind  in  one's  face,  and  as  one  emerged  from  the 
brush  or  timber  it  was  simply  delicious  to  feel  the  cool 


172  ALONG  ALASKA'S  GREAT  RIVER. 

nreeze  on  one's  peppered  face  and  to  see  tlie  rascals  dis- 
appear. Our  backs,  however,  were  even  then  spotted 
with  them,  still  crawling  along  and  testing  every  thread 
in  one's  coat  to  see  if  they  could  not  find  a  thin  liole 
where  they  might  bore  through.  Once  in  the  breeze,  it 
was  comical  to  turn  around  slowly  and  see  their  efforts 
to  keep  under  the  lee  of  one's  hunting  shirt,  as  one  by 
one  they  lose  their  hold  and  are  wafted  away  in  the 
wind.  If  these  pests  had  been  almost  unbearable  before, 
they  now  became  simply  fiendish  while  we  were  repairing 
our  raft ;  nothing  could  be  done  unless  a  wind  was  blowing 
or  unless  we  stood  in  a  smoke  from  the  resinous  pine  or 
spruce  so  thick  that  the  eyes  remained  in  an  acute  state 
of  inflammation.  Mosquito  netting  over  the  hat  was  not 
an  infallible  remedy  and  was  greatly  in  the  way  when  at 
work. 

A  fair  wind  one  day  made  me  think  it  possible  to  take 
a  hunt  inland,  but,  to  my  disgust,  it  died  down  after  I 
had  proceeded  two  or  three  miles,  and  my  fight  back  to 
camp  with  the  mosquitoes  I  shall  always  remember  as 
one  of  the  salient  points  of  my  life.  It  seemed  as  if  there 
was  an  upward  rain  of  insects  from  the  grass  that  became 
a  deluge  over  marshy  tracts,  and  more  than  half  the 
ground  was  marshy.  Of  course  not  a  sign  of  any  game 
was  seen  except  a  few  old  tracks  ;  and  the  tracks  of  an 
animal  are  about  the  only  part  of  it  that  could  exist  here 
in  the  mosquito  season,  which  lasts  from  the  time  the 
snow  is  half  off  the  ground  until  the  first  severe  frost,  a 
period  of  some  three  or  four  months.  During  that  time 
every  living  creature  that  can  leave  the  valleys  ascends 
the  mountains,  closely  following  the  snowline,  and  eveu 
there  peace  is  not  completely  attained,  the  exposure  to 


THE  GRAND  CANON  OF  THE  YUKON.  173 

the  winds  being  of  far  more  benefit  than  the  coolness  due 
to  tlie  altitude,  while  the  mosquitoes  are  left  undisputed 
masters  of  the  valleys,  except  for  a  few  straggling- 
animals  on  their  way  from  one  range  of  mountains  to  the 
other.  Had  there  been  any  game,  and  had  I  obtained 
a  fair  shot,  I  honestly  doubt  if  I  could  have  secured  it 
owing  to  these  pests,  not  altogether  on  account  of  their 
ravenous  attacks  upon  my  face,  and  especially  the  eyes, 
but  for  the  reason  that  they  were  absolutelj?-  so  dense 
that  it  was  impossible  to  see  clear]  v  throngh  the  mass  in 
taking  aim.  When  I  got  back  to  camp  I  was  thoroughly 
exhausted  witli  my  incessant  fight  and  completely  out  of 
breath,  which  I  had  to  regain  as  best  I  could  in  a  stiHiug 
smoke  from  dry  resinous  pine  knots.  A  traveler  who 
had  s];)ent  a  summer  on  the  Lower  Yukon,  where  I  did 
not  find  the  pests  so  bad  on  my  journey  as  on  the  upper 
river,  was  of  oi)inion  that  a  nervous  person  without  a 
mask  would  soon  be  killed  by  nervous  jorostration,  unless 
he  were  to  take  refuge  in  mid-stream.  I  know  that  the 
native  dogs  are  killed  by  the  mosquitoes  under  certain 
circumstances,  and  I  heard  reports,  which  I  believe  to  be 
well  founded,  both  from  Indians  and  trustworthy  white 
persons,  that  the  great  brown  bear — erroneously  but 
commonly  called  the  grizzly — of  these  regions  is  at  times 
compelled  to  succumli  to  these  insects.  The  statement 
seems  almost  preposterous,  but  the  explanation  is  com- 
paratively simple.  Bruin  having  exhausted  all  the  roots 
and  berries  on  one  mountain,  or  finding  them  scarce, 
thinks  he  will  cross  the  valley  to  another  range,  or  j>er- 
haps  it  is  the  odor  of  salmon  washed  up  along  the  riv  er'  s 
banks  that  attracts  him.  Covered  with  a  heavy  fur  on 
his  body,  his  eyes,    nose  and   ears  are   the   vulnerable 


174 


ALONG  ALASKA'S  GREAT  RIVER. 


points  for  mosquitoes,  and  liere  of  course  they  con- 
gregate in  the  greatest  numbers.  At  last  when  he  reaches 
a  swampy  stretch  they  rise  in  myriads  until  his  fore- 
paws  are  kept  so  busy  as  he  strives  to  keep  his  eyes 


ALASKA    BROWN   BEAR   FIGHTING    MOSQUITOES. 

clear  of  them  that  he  can  not  walk,  whereupon  he 
becomes  enraged,  and  bear-like,  rises  on  his  haunches  to 
fight.  It  is  now  a  mere  question  of  time  until  the  bear's 
eyes  become  so  swollen  from  innumerable  bites  as  to 
render  him  perfectly  blind,  when  he  wanders  helplessly 
about  until  he  gets  mired  in  the  marsh,  and  so  starves 
tO  death. 


CHAPTER  YIII. 


DOWN  THE  RIVER  TO  SELKIRK. 


NE  evening  about  eight 
o'  clock,  while  encamped 
below  the  cascades,  we 
could  hear  dull,  heavy  con- 
cussions occurring  at  intervals 
of  two  or  three  minutes.  The 
sound  did  not  at  all  resemble 
that  of  distant  thunder,  and 
moreover,  the  sky  was  cloud- 
less. Earthquakes  were  sug- 
iN  THE  RINK  RAPIDS.  gested,  but  the  theory  did  not 
seem  plausible,  and  we  were  compelled  to  attribute  it  to 
the  cascades,  which,  I  believe,  have  been  known  to  cause 
earth  tremblings  and  analogous  phenomena. 

I  noticed  that  a  Tahk-heesh  Indian  in  arranging  his 
head  and  breast  bands  for  a  load  to  be  carried  on  his 
back,  adjusted  them  as  follows  :  The  breast-band  was 
grasped  in  the  center  by  the  palm  of  the  hand,  and  when 
pulled  out  taut  if  the  elbow  of  the  packer  just  touched 
the  load, — ^box,  bag  or  bundle, — it  was  considered  to  be 
in  proper  condition  to  carry.  The  breast  band  adjusted, 
the  head  band  is  also  pulled  out,  and  between  the  two 
there  must  be  the  width  of  the  packer' s  hand  ;  the  head- 
band, which  is  not  always  used,  being  the  longer.     I  had 


176 


ALONG  ALASKA'S  GREAT  RIVER, 


hitkbfto  noticed  this  manner  of  arranging  the  load  when 
among  my  Chiikat  packers  ;  the  most  singukir  feature 
of  it  being  that  the  breast  band  passes  over  the  arms  so 
as  to  pinion  tliem  to  the  sides,  making  them  apparently 
useless  when  the  most  needed. 


4^.,.;k<--j 


CLAY    BLUFFS    ON    THE    UPPER   YUKON. 

On  the  .0th  of  July  we  again  got  under  way  on  our  raft. 
For  the  first  few  miles,  eight  or  ten,  the  river  is  very  swift 
and  occasionally  breaks  into  light  rapids,  although  I 
believe  a  powerful  light-draft  river  steamer,  such  as  are 
used  on  the  shallow  western  rivers,  could  easily  sur- 
mount all  the  bad  places  we  saw  below  the  cascades  of 


DOWN  THE  RIVER  TO  SELKIRK.  177 

the  great  rajjids.  If  I  ara  right  in  my  conjectures  upon 
this  point,  the  Yukon  River  is  navigable  for  1866  miles 
from  the  Aphoon  or  northernmost  mouth  of  its  delta. 

Shortly  after  noon  we  passed  the  mouth  of  the  Tahk- 
heen'-aorTahk  River  coming  in  from  the  w^est,  which  is 
about  two-thirds  the  size  of  the  Yukon.  By  following 
it  to  its  head,  where  the  Indians  say  is  a  large  lake,  the 
traveler  arrives  at  the  Chilkat  portage,  the  relation  of 
which  with  the  Chilkoot  trail  has  already  been  noticed. 
From  thisjioint  on  my  Chilkat  guide,  Indianne,  was  much 
more  familiar  with  the  country,  having  been  over  the 
Chilkat  trail  many  times,  and  over  the  Chilkoot  portage 
but  once  when  a  small  hoj.  From  the  cascades  to  the 
Tahk  River,  a  distance  of  nearly  twenty-five  miles,  the 
banks  of  the  Yukon  are  quite  high  and  often  broken  into 
perpendicular  bluffs  of  white  clay,  whose  rolling  crescent- 
shaped  crowns  were  densely  covered  with  •  pine  and 
spruce.  While  the  Tahk-heen'-ais  the  smaller  stream, 
its  bed  and  valley  apparently  determine  the  general  char- 
acteristics of  the  river  beyond  its  confluence,  the  high  bold 
bluffs  of  clay  just  mentioned  being  from  this  point  suc- 
ceeded by  lower  shores  wooded  to  the  water' s  edge. 

The  Tahk-heen'-a,  like  all  streams  not  interspersed  with 
lakes  on  its  upper  course,  carries  quite  muddy  water, 
and  we  all  felt  a  little  uneasy  about  our  fine  grayling  fisher- 
ies, a  foreboding  w^ell  founded,  for  they  diminished  with  an 
exasperating  suddenness,  our  evenings  seldom  being 
rewarded  with  more  than  two  or  three. 

The  last  of  the  chain  of  lakes  was  reached  the  same 
day  at  5  p.  m.,  and  we  were  prevented  from  taking  ad- 
vantage of  a  good  wind  by  a  three  hours'  detention  on  a 
sand-bar  that  stretched  almost  entirely  across  the  river's 


178  ALONG  ALASKA'S  GREAT  RIVER. 

mouth.  This  bar  had  a  deep  channel  on  either  side  of  it. 
and  when  our  most  strenuous  efforts  completely  failed 
to  get  the  raft  off,  there  was  nothing  to  be  done  but  to 
put  the  load  ashore,  and  as  wading  was  impossible,  the 
Cottonwood  canoe  was  brought  into  action,  slow  as  the 
method  was.  Not  having  been  used  much  lately  its 
condition  was  unknown,  and  as  soon  as  we  launched  it, 
the  water  came  pouring  in  from  a  dozen  cracks  where  the 
gum  had  scaled  off.  One  very  vicious  looking  hole  was  sud- 
denly developed  in  the  bow  as  the  first  load  went  ashore, 
and  "Billy"  undertook  to  overcome  this  difficulty  by 
putting  most  of  the  load  in  the  stern,  taking  his  own  place 
there  so  as  to  allow  the  bow  to  stand  well  out  of  the  water. 
With  every  load  the  leak  grew  worse,  and  about  the  fourth 
or  fifth  trip  there  was  a  most  desperate  struggle  between 
the  canoeman  and  the  leak  to  see  which  would  conquer 
before  they  reached  the  shore,  the  result  being  a  partial 
victory  for  both,  the  canoe's  head  going  under  water  just 
as  it  reached  the  shore,  upon  which  there  was  a  hurried 
scramble  to  unload  it  without  damage. 

This  lake  was  called  by  the  Indians  Kluk-tas'-si ;  and, 
as  it  was  one  of  the  very  few  pronounceable  names  of 
Indian  derivation  in  this  section  of  the  country,  I  re- 
tained it,  although  it  is  possible  that  this  may  be  the 
Lake  Labarge  of  some  books,  the  fact  that  it  is  the  first 
lake  above  the  site  of  old  Fort  Selkirk  being  the  only 
geographical  datum  in  its  favor,  while  all  its  other  rela- 
tions to  equal  points  of  importance  are  opposed  to  the 
theory.  In  fact,  it  had  evidently  been  mapped  by  the 
merest  guesswork  from  vague  Indian  reports. 

I  hope  I  shall  be  excused  for  again  reviving  the  subject 
of  conjectural  geography,  so  uncertain  in  its  results  and 


DOWN  THE  RIVER  TO  SELKIRK.  170 

so  prevalent  m  Alaskan  charts,  especially  those  relating 
to  the  interior,  even  when  they  are  of  an  official  charac- 
ter. If  the  self-satisfaction  of  these  parlor  map-makers 
has  been  gratified  in  following  unknown  rivers  and 
mountains  wherever  their  fancy  and  imagination  led 
them,  and  no  other  harm  resulted,  one  conversant  with 
the  facts  might  dismiss  the  manifold  errors  that  occur 
in  their  charts  with  a  contemptuous  smile  at  the  method 
pursued.  But  that  harm  of  the  most  serious  nature  can 
result  from  these  geographical  conjectures  is  evident 
from  the  following  true  story  told  me  by  the  person  in- 
terested. A  party  of  miners  had  crossed  the  Chilkoot 
trail  and  were  on  a  "  prospecting  tour"  down  the  river 
and  lakes.  Discouraged  at  the  outlook  as  to  finding 
gold  or  silver  in  paying  quantities,  there  was  consider- 
able diversity  of  opinion  in  regard  to  the  jDropriety  of 
any  further  advance  in  such  a  wild  unexplored  country, 
the  majority  advocating  a  return.  Among  their  number 
was  a  young  lawyer,  a  graduate  of  an  eastern  college,  I 
believe,  who  had  joined  the  party  in  the  hope  of  finding 
adventures  and  of  repairing  his  health,  which  had  suffered 
from  too  close  an  application  to  his  professional  studies. 
Having  in  his  possession  an  official  government  chart 
which  pretended  to  map  the  route  over  which  he  had 
come  as  well  as  that  ahead  of  him,  although  he  had  re- 
ceived proof  of  its  untrustworthiness  in  the  past,  he  re- 
solved to  trust  it  once  more.  Numerous  Indian  villages 
and  towns  were  shown  upon  the  chart  at  convenient  in- 
tervals along  the  remainder  of  the  route.  He  thought 
the  villages  might  not  be  just  where  they  were  marked, 
but  believed  that  in  the  main  their  number  and  positions 
were  at  least  approximately  correct.    Basing  his  expect 


180  ALONG  ALASKA: "I  GREAT  RIVEK. 

ations  on  the  help  to  be  obtained  troi:i  these  numer- 
ous Indian  villages,  he  announced  to  the  party  his  deter- 
mination to  continue  his  travels,  whatever  might  be  the 
conclusion  to  which  the  others  should  come,  pointing  out 
the  hosi)itality  which  they  had  received  from  the  Indians 
they  had  i^reviously  met,  and  expressing  his  expectation 
of  meeting  many  others  as  friendly.  Whether  his  rea- 
soning influenced  them  or  not  I  have  forgotten,  and  it 
matters  but  littlo,  but  at  any  rate  the  party  gave  up  the 
idea  of  returning  and  continued  on  drifting  down  the  river 
and  prospecting  wherever  the  conditions  seemed  favor- 
able, until  old  Fort  Selkirk  was  reached,  when  they  as- 
cended the  Pelly,  upon  the  bars  of  which  stream  the  pros- 
pect of  finding  gold  was  greatest.  During  all  this  long 
journey  not  a  single  Indian  was  seen  by  the  party,  and 
only  one  deserted  house,  with  an  occasional  peeled  spruce 
pole  at  long  intervals  that  marked  the  temporary  camps 

of  the  few  wandering  natives.      Young  C took  the 

jokes  of  his  companions  upon  his  chart  and  its  Indian 
towns  good-naturedly  enough,  and  the  map  was  nailed 
to  a  big  spruce  tree  and  used  for  a  target  for  rifle  prac- 
tice, but  he  often  spoke  to  me  in  a  far  different  strain  as 
he  recounted  the  chances  of  his  taking  the  journey  alone 
aided  solely  by  this  worthless  map.  In  fact  there  is  not 
an  official  or  government  map  of  Alaska,  that,  taken  as 
a  whole,  is  worth  the  ink  with  which  it  is  printed.  Limi- 
ted explorations  and  surveys  in  this  vast  territory,  such 
as  those  of  Captain  Raymond  on  the  Yukon,  Lieutenant, 
Ray  on  the  Arctic  Coast,  Lieutenant  Stoney  on  the  Put- 
nam river,  and  many  others,  are  undoubtedly  excellent, 
second  to  none  in  the  world  made  under  similar  circum- 
stances, and  confined  strictly  to  the  country  actually 


DOWN  THE  RIVER  TO  SELKIRK.  181 

traversed  by  each,  with  broken  line  delineations  in  sur- 
rounding districts,  indicating  conjectures;  but  as  soon  as 
these  or  such  portions  of  them  as  the  Washington  com- 
piler may  see  fit  to  take,  are  dumped  into  a  great  map  of 
Alaska,  they  are  so  mixed  with  conjectural  topography 
and  map  work  that  one  must  know  the  history  of 
Alaskan  exploration  about  as  well  as  the  history  of  his 
own  life  to  be  able  to  discriminate  between  the  good  and 
the  worthless. 

Like  Lake  Marsh,  Kluk-tas-si  is  full  of  mudbanks 
along  its  shores  ;  its  issuing  waters  being  clear  as  a 
mountain  stream,  while  its  incoming  tributaries  are 
loaded  with  earthy  deposits.  So  full  of  these  is  Kluk- 
tas-si,  and  so  much  more  contracted  is  the  waterw.ay 
through  them,  that  we  thought  we  could  detect  a  slight 
current  when  making  our  way  along  in  the  blue  water. 
This  was  especially  noticeable  when  the  wind  died  down 
to  a  calm.  In  spite  of  all  this,  Kluk-tas-si  offered  fewer 
difficulties  in  the  way  of  making  landings  than  Lake 
Marsh.  It  seemed  to  me  that  but  a  brief  geological 
period  must  elapse  before  these  lakes  are  filled  with 
deposits,  their  new  shores  covered  with  timber,  and 
their  beds  contracted  to  the  dimensions  of  the  river. 
Such  ancient  lakes  appear  to  occur  in  the  course  of  the 
stream  further  on. 

We  started  at  seven  in  the  morning  and  were  occupied 
until  eight  in  rowing  and  sailing  through  the  tortuous 
channel  which  led  to  blue  water  in  the  deep  portion  of 
the  lake.  To  keep  this  channel  readily  we  sent  the 
Indians  ahead  in  the  canoe,  who  sounded  with  their 
long  i3addles,  and  by  signals  indicated  the  deepest  parts. 
In  spite  of  their  exertions  we  stuck  a  couple  of  times, 


182  ALONG  ALASKA'S  GREAT  RIVER. 

and  had  to  lower  sail  and  jnmii  overboard.  The  wind 
kept  slowly  increasing  and  by  the  time  we  set  the  full 
spread  of  our  sail  in  bold  water,  we  were  forging  along 
at  such  a  rate  that  we  put  out  a  trolling  spoon,  but  noth- 
ing was  caught,  the  huge  craft  probably  frightening 
every  thing  away.  The  wind  died  down  and  sj^rang  uj) 
again  several  times  during  the  day,  but  every  time  it 
arose  it  was  in  our  favor.  That  evening  by  the  time  we 
reached  Camp  21,  on  the  eastern  shore  of  the  lake,  we 
had  scored  about  thirteen  miles,  a  very  good  reckoning 
for  lake  travel  any  time. 

The  west  bank  of  this  lake  is  very  picturesque  about 
fourteen  or  fifteen  miles  from  its  southern  entrance,  large 
towers  and  bastion-like  projections  of  red  rock  ui^heav- 
ing  their  huge  flanks  upon  what  seems  to  be  a  well- 
marked  island,  but  which  is  in  reality  a  part  of  the 
mainland,  as  our  Indians  assured  us.  According  to  the 
same  authorities  a  river  comes  in  here  at  this  point,  hav- 
ing shores  of  the  same  formation,  and  called  by  them 
the  Red  River.  The  frequency  of  this  name  in  Ameri- 
can geographical  nomenclature  was  to  me  suflicient 
reason  for  abandoning  it ;  and  I  gave  the  name  of  Rich- 
thofen  to  the  rocks  and  river  (the  latter,  however,  not 
having  been  seen  by  us),  after  Freiherr  von  Richthofen 
of  Leipsic,  well  known  in  geographical  science.  The 
next  evening  was  a  still  and  beautiful  one,  with  the  lake's 
surface  like  a  mirror,  and  the  reflection  of  the  red  rocks 
in  the  quiet  water  made  the  most  striking  scene  on  our 
trip  ;  two  warm  pictures  of  rosy  red  in  the  sinking  sun 
joined  base  to  base  by  a  thread  of  silver,  at  the  edge  of 
the  other  shore.  The  eastern  shores  of  the  lake  seem  to 
be  formed  of  high  rounded  hills  of  light  gray  limestone, 


DOWN  THE  RIVER  TO  SELKIRK.  183 

picturesquely  striped  with  the  foliage  of  the  dark  ever- 
green growing  in  the  ravines.  From  the  lake  the  con- 
trast was  very  pretty,  and  showed  a  regularity  that 
scarcely  seemed  the  work  of  nature.  I  named  them 
the  Hancock  Hills  after  General  Hancock  of  the  army. 
A  number  of  salmon-trout  were  caught  in  this  lake  (the 
first  one  was  caught  in  Lake  Nares),  the  largest  of  which 
weighed  over  eight  pounds,  that  being  the  limit  of  the 
pocket  scales  of  the  doctor.  Saturday  the  7th  gave  us 
the  most  conflicting  winds,  and  although  we  were  upon 
the  waters  of  Kluk-tas-si,  for  twelve  hours  we  made  but 
nine  miles,  a  head  wind  driving  us  into  Camp  22. 

We  did  not  allow  the  8th  to  tempt  us  on  the  lake  so 
readily,  and  the  day  was  employed  in  taking  astronomi- 
cal observations,  arranging  our  photographic  apparatus 
and  similar  work,  until  early  afternoon.  At  1.30  p.m. 
a  favorable  breeze' from  the  south  sprang  up,  and  by  2 
o'clock  was  raging  in  a  gale,  blowing  over  the  tent  where 
we -were  eating  our  midday  meal,  filling  the  coffee  and 
eatables  with  sand  and  gravel,  and  causing  a  general 
scampering  and  chasing  after  the  lighter  articles  of  our 
equipment,  which  took  flight  in  the  furious  wind.  Most 
exasperating  of  all,  it  quickly  determined  us  to  break 
camp,  and  in  less  than  half  an  hour  we  had  all  of  our 
effects  stored  on  the  vessel,  and  were  pulling  off  the 
beach,  when  just  as  our  sail  was  spread  the  wind  died 
down  to  a  zephyr  hardly  sufficient  to  keep  away  the 
mosquitoes.  At  7  o'clock  the  lake  was  as  quiet  as  can 
be  imagined,  and  after  remaining  almost  motionless  for 
another  hour  we  i)ulled  into  the  steep  bank,  made  our 
beds  on  the  slanting  declivity  at  a  place  where  it  was 
impossible  to  pitch  a  tent,  and  went  to  sleep  only  to  be 


184  ALONG  ALASKA'S  GREAT  RIVER. 

:i wakened  at  night  by  showers  of  rain  falling  upon  our 
upturned  faces.  We  congratulated  ourselves  that  we 
were  in  a  place  where  the  drainage  was  good. 

In  the  shallow  water  near  the  shores  of  Lake  Kluk- 
tassi,  especially  where  a  little  bar  of  pretty  white  sand 
put  out  into  the  banks  of  glacier  mud,  one  could  always 
find  innumerable  shoals  of  small  graylings  not  over  an 


OUTLET    OF    LAKE    KLUKTASSI. 
Terminal  Butte  of  the  Hancock  Hills  (on  the  right). 

inch  in  length,  and  our  Indians  imniediatel}"  improvised 
a  mosquito  bar  into  a  fish  net,  catching  hundreds  of  the 
little  fellows,  which  were  used  so  successfully  as  bait 
with  the  larger  fish  of  the  lake  that  we  finally  thought 
the  end  justified  the  means. 

Instead  of  dying  down  as  we  spread  sail  early  in  the 
morning  of  the  9th,  the  wind  actually  freshened,  upsetting 
all  our  prognostications,  and  sending  us  along  at  a  rate  that 


DOWN  THE  RIVER  TO  SELKIRK.  185 

allowed  us  to  enter  the  river  early  in  the  forenoon,  and 
I  doubt  if  the  besiegers  of  a  fortress  ever  saw  its  flag  go 
down  with  more  satisfaction  than  we  saw  the  rude  wall- 
tent  sail  come  down  forever,  and  left  behind  us  the  most 
tedious  and  uncertain  method  of  navigation  an  explorer 
was  ever  called  upon  to  attempt — a  clumsy  raft  on  a 
motionless  lake,  at  the  sport  of  variable  winds.  Our 
Joy  was  somewhat  dampened  at  sticking  several  times  on 
the  bars,  one  of  which  delayed  us  over  half  an  hour. 

In  all  these  rivers  just  after  emerging  from  the 
lakes  the  current  was  quite  swift,  and  so  shallow  in  many 
places  as  almost  to  deserve  the  name  of  rapids.  This 
was  particularly  the  case  where  the  swift  stream  cut  into 
the  high  banks  that  loomed  some  forty  to  sixty  feet 
above  us  as  we  rushed  by,  a  top  stratum  that  rested  upon 
the  stiff  yellow  clay  being  full  of  rounded  bowlders, 
which,  when  undermined,  were  letdown  into  the  river's 
bed,  choking  it  partially  with  most  dangerous-looking 
obstacles. 

During  the  whole  day  we  were  passing  through  burned 
districts  of  heavy  timber  that  looked  dismal  enough, 
backed,  as  they  were,  by  dense  clouds  of  black  smoke 
rising  ahead  of  us,  showing  plainly  that  the  devastation 
was  still  going  on.  Many  of  these  sweepings  of  fire  were 
quite  old  ;  so  old,  in  fact,  that  the  dark  rotting  trunks 
had  become  mere  banks  of  brown  stretched  along  the 
ground,  the  blackened  bark  of  the  stumps  being  the  only 
testimony  as  to  the  manner  of  its  destruction.  Others, 
again,  were  so  recent  that  the  last  rain  had  not  yet 
beaten  the  white  ashes  from  their  blackened  limbs, 
while  late  that  evening  we  dashed  through  the  region  of 
smoke  and  flame  we  had  discerned  earlier  in  the  day. 


186  ALONG  ALASKA'S  GREAT  RIVER. 

It  is  wonderful  what  great  wide  strips  of  river  these 
flames  will  cross,  i)robably  carried  by  the  high  winds, 
when  light  bunches  of  dry,  resinous  matter  are  in  a 
blaze.  We  saw  one  instance  which,  however,  must  be  a 
rare  one,  of  a  blazing  tree  that  fell  into  the  water,  where 
it  immediately  found  a  hydrostatic  equilibrium,  so  that 
its  uj^per  branches  continued  on  fire,  blazing  and  smok- 
ing away  like  a  small  steam  launch.  It  might  readily 
have  crossed  the  river  as  it  floated  down,  and  becoming 
entangled  in  the  dry  driftwood  of  the  opposite  bank, 
have  been  the  nucleus  of  a  new  conflagration,  the  limits 
of  which  would  have  been  determined  by  the  wind  and 
the  nature  of  the  material  in  its  path.  Of  course,  in  such 
an  intricate  wilderness  of  black  and  bro^^'n  trunks  and 
stumx:)s,  any  kind  of  game  that  approaches  to  black  in 
color,  such  as  a  moose  or  black  or  brown  bear ;  in 
fact,  any  thing  darker  than  a  snow-white  mountain- 
goat,  can  easily  avoid  the  most  eagle-eyed  hunter,  by 
simply  keeping  still,  since  it  could  scarcely  be  distin- 
guished at  any  distance  above  a  hundred  yards. 

The  western  banks  at  one  stretch  of  the  river  con- 
sisted of  high  precipitous  banks  of  clay,  fringed  A\ith 
timber  at  the  summit.  In  one  of  the  many  little  gul- 
lies that  cleft  the  top  of  the  bank  into  a  series  of  roll- 
ing crescents,  a  member  of  the  party  perceived  and 
drew  our  attention  to  a  brown  stump  which  seemed  to 
have  an  unusual  resemblance  to  a  "grizzlj^  bear,"  to 
use  his  expression.  The  resemblance  was  marked  by 
all  to  such  an  extent  that  the  stump  Avas  closely 
watched,  and  when,  as  Ave  were  from  four  to  six  hundred 
yards  away,  the  stump  picked  up  its  roots  and  began  to 
walk  down  the  slope,   there  was  a  general  scrambling 


DOWN  THE  RIVER  TO  SELKIRK.  187 

around  for  guns,  giving  the  stump  an  intimation  that  all 
was  not  right,  and  with  one  good  look  from  a  couple  of 
knots  on  its  side,  it  disappeared  among  the  rest  of  the 
timber  before  a  shot  at  a  reasonable  distance  could  be 
fired.  Thereafter  our  guns  were  kept  in  a  more  con- 
venient position  for  such  drift  timber. 

After  we  had  made  a  good  forty  miles  that  day,  we 
felt  perfectly  justified  in  going  into  camp  and  about  seven 
o'  clock  we  commenced  looking  for  one.  The  river  was 
uniformly  wide,  without  a  break  that  would  give  slack 
water  where  we  could  decrease  our  rapid  pace,  and  that 
day  commenced  an  experience  such  as  I  have  treated  of 
in  the  chapter  on  rafting.  Not  knowing  the  efficacy  of 
this  method  at  the  time,  we  did  not  find  a  camp  until 
8:15,  but  back  of  us  lay  over  forty-five  miles  of  distance 
traversed,  which  amply  compensated  us  for  the  slight 
annoyance.  Ahead  of  us  there  still  hung  dense  clouds 
of  smoke  which  seemed  as  if  the  whole  world  was  on 
fire  in  that  direction.  An  hour  or  so  after  camping 
(No.  24)  a  couple  of  miners  came  into  camp,  ragged  and 
hungry,  the  most  woe-begone  objects  I  ever  saw.  They 
belonged  to  a  party  that  numbered  nearly  a  dozen  and 
who  had  started  about  a  month  ahead  of  us.  These  two 
had  left  a  third  at  camp  about  a  mile  up  the  river  (from 
which  point  they  had  seen  us  float  by),  and  were  return- 
ing to  civilization  in  order  to  allow  the  rest  of  the  party 
food  sufficient  to  enable  them  to  continue  prospecting. 
The  party,  at  starting,  had  intended  to  eke  out  their 
civilized  provisions  with  large  game  from  time  to  time, 
in  order  to  carry  them  through  the  summer.  They  were 
well  armed  and  had  several  practical  hunters  with  them, 
who  had  often  carried  out  this  plan  while  prospecting  in 


188  ALONG  ALASKA'S  GREAT  RIVER. 

what  seemed  to  be  less  favored  localities  for  game.  Their 
experience  confirmed  the  Indian  reports  that  the  caribou 
and  moose  follow  the  snow-line  as  it  retreats  up  the 
mountains  in  the  short  summer  of  this  country,  in  order 
to  avoid  the  mosquitoes,  with  the  exception  only  of  a 
few  stragglers  here  and  there,  on  which  no  reliance  can 
be  placed.  It  was  certainly  a  most  formidable  under- 
taking for  these  ragged,  almost  barefooted  men  to  walk 
back  through  such  a  country  as  I  have  already  de- 
scribed, with  but  a  mere  pittance  of  food  in  their  haver- 
sacks. Possessing  no  reliable  maps,  they  were  obliged 
to  follow  the  tortuous  river,  for  fear  of  losing  it,  since  it 
was  their  only  guide  out  of  the  country.  Large  tribu- 
taries coming  in  from  the  west,  which  was  the  side  they 
had  chosen,  often  forced  them  to  go  many  weary  miles 
into  the  interior  before  they  could  be  crossed.  They 
hoped  to  find  an  Indian  canoe  by  the  time  the  lakes 
were  reached,  but  from  the  scarcity  of  these  craft  I 
doubt  if  their  hopes  were  ever  realized.  I  heard  after- 
ward that  they  had  suffered  considerably  on  this  return 
trip,  especially  in  crossing  through  the  Perrier  Pass,  and 
had  to  be  rescued  in  the  Dayay  Valley  by  Indians  from 
the  Haines  Mission. 

The  country  was  constantly  getting  more  open  as  we 
proceeded,  and  now  looked  like  the  rolling  hill-land  of 
old  P^ngland.  By  the  word  open,  however,  I  do  not 
mean  to  imply  the  absence  of  timber,  for  the  growth  of 
spruce  and  pine  on  the  hills  and  of  the  deciduous  trees 
in  the  valleys  continued  as  dense  as  ever,  and  so  re- 
mained nearly  to  the  mouth  of  the  river,  varying,  how- 
ever, in  regard  to  size  and  species. 

Upon  the  10th,  the  current  did  not  abate  a  jot  of  its 


DOWN  THliJ  RIVER  TO  SELKIRK,  189 

swiftness,  and  although  we  started  tolerably  late,  yet 
when  Camp  25  was  pitched,  at  8:15  p.m.,  in  a  thick  grove 
of  little  i30X)lars  (there  being  no  prospect  of  a  better 
camp  in  sight),  we  had  scored  59  miles  along  the  axis  of 
the  stream,  the  best  record  for  one  day  made  on  the 
river.  About  10  o'clock,  that  morning,  we  again  passed 
through  forest  fires  that  were  raging  on  both  sides  of  the 
river,  which  averages  at  this  point  from  300  to  400  yards 
in  width.  A  commendable  scarcity  of  mosquitoes  was 
noticed  on  this  part  of  the  river. 

Shortly  after  noon  we  passed  the  mouth  of  a  large 
river,  from  150  to  200  yards  in  width,  which  my  Chilkat 
Indians  told  me  was  called  the  Tah-heen'-a  by  them.  The 
resemblance  of  this  name  to  that  of  the  Tahk-heen'-a 
made  me  abandon  it,  and  I  called  it  after  M.  Antoine 
d'Abbadie,  Membre  d'Institut,  the  French  explorer. 
In  regard  to  Indian  names  on  this  part  of  the  Yukon 
River,  I  found  that  a  white  man  labors  under  one  difficulty 
not  easy  to  overcome.  The  Chilkats,  who  are,  as  it  were, 
the  self-appointed  masters  over  the  docile  and  degraded 
"Sticks,"  while  in  the  country  of  the  latter,  have  one 
set  of  names  and  the  "Sticks,"  or  Tahk-heesh,  have 
another.  Oftentimes  the  name  of  a  geographical  object 
is  the  same  in  meaning,  differing  only  according  to  the 
language.  More  often  the  names  are  radically  different, 
and  what  is  most  perplexing  of  all,  the  Sticks  will  give 
the  same  name  as  the  Chilkats  in  the  presence  of  the 
latter,  thus  acknowledging  in  the  most  humble  and  abject 
way  their  savage  suzerainty. 

For  some  time  before  reaching  the  mouth  of  the  D'Ab- 
badie high  hills  had  been  rising  on  the  eastern  slope, 
until  near  this  tributary  their  character  had  become  trulj 


190  ALONG  ALASKA'S  GREAT  RIVER. 

mountainous.  I  called  them  the  Semenow  Mountains, 
after  Von  Semenow,  President  of  the  Imperial  Geo- 
graphical Society  of  Russia.  They  extend  from  the 
D'Abbadie  River  on  the  north  to  the  Newberry  River 
(after  Professor  Newberry,  of  New  York),  on  the  south. 
Between  them  and  the  Hancock  Hills  is  located  an  iso- 
lated and  conspicuous  butte  which  I  named  after 
M.  Charles  Maunoir,  of  the  Paris  Geographical  Society. 
A  very  similar  hill  bef-ween  the  Tahk  River  and  the 
Yukon  was  named  after  Professor  Ernst  Haeckel,  of 
Jena,  German 3^  The  mouth  of  the  D'Abbadie  marks 
an  important  point  on  the  Yukon  River,  as  being  the 
place  at  which  gold  begins  to  be  found  in  placer  deposits. 
From  the  D'Abbadie  almost  to  the  very  mouth  of  the  great 
Yukon,  a  panful  of  "dirt"  taken  with  any  discretion 
from  almost  any  bar  or  bank,  will  when  washed  give 
several  "colors,"  to  use  a  miner's  jihrase.  The  Daly 
River  comes  in  from  the  east  some  forty  miles  further 
on,  measured  along  the  stream,  forming,  with  the  New- 
berry and  D'Abbadie,  a  singular  trio  of  almost  similar 
streams.  The  last-mentioned  river  I  have  named  after 
Chief  Justice  Daly,  of  New  York,  a  leading  patron  of 
my  Franklin  Search  expedition.  The  frequent  occur- 
rence of  large  tributaries  flowing  from  the  east  showed 
this  to  be  the  main  drainage  area  of  the  Upper  Yukon, 
a  rule  to  which  the  sole  exception  of  the  Nordenskiold 
River  (after  Baron  von  Nordenskiold,  the  celebrated  S  wed 
ish  explorer  of  the  Arctic),  which  comes  in  from  the  west, 
fifty  miles  beyond  the  Daly,  and  is  the  peer  of  any  of  the 
three  just  mentioned.  Immediately  after  passing  tlios* 
rivers,  the  Newberry  especially,  the  Yukon  became  very 
much  darker  in  hue,  showing,  as  I  believe,  that  the  trib- 


DOWN  THE  RIVER  TO  SELKIRK.  Ml 

utaries  drained  a  considerable  amount  of  what  might  be 
called — possibly  inappropriately — "tundra"  land,  i.  e.y 
where  the  water,  saturated  with  the  dyes  extracted  from 
dead  leaves  and  mosses,  is  prevented  by  an  impervious 
substratum  of  ice  from  clarifying  itself  by  percolating 
through  the  soil,  and  is  carried  off  by  superficial  drain- 


LOOKING    BACK    AT   THE    EINK    RAPIDS, 

age  directly  into  the  river-beds.  Where  we  camped  on 
the  night  of  the  25tli  I  noticed  that  many  of  the  dead 
seasoned  poj)lars  with  which  we  built  our  camp-fire  and 
sooked  our  food  had  been  killed  in  previous  winters  by 
tile  hares,  that  had  peeled  the  bark  in  a  circle  around  the 
trunk  at  such  a  uniform  height  of  from  twenty  to  twen- 
ty-four inches  from  the  ground,  measured  from  the  lower 


1C2       ALONG  ALASKA'S  GREAT  RIV^JR. 

edge  of  the  girdle,  that  I  could  not  but  think  that  this 
was  uboiTt  the  average  depth  of  the  winter  snow,  upon 
which  the  liares  stood  at  the  time.  On  the  11th  we 
drifted  over  fifty  miles.  Shortly  after  starting  we 
passed  the  mouth  of  the  Daly,  already  referred  to,  while 
directly  ahead  was  a  noticeable  hill  named  by  the  Chil- 
kats  Eagles'  N^est,  and  by  the  Tahk-heesh  Otter  Tail,  each 
in  their  own  language.  I  easily  saw  my  way  out  of  the 
difficulty  by  changing  its  name  to  Parkman  Peak,  after 
Professor  Francis  Paikinan,  the  well-known  American 
historian. 

We  passed  the  mouth  of  the  Nordenskiold  River  on  the 
afternoon  of  the  11th,  and  tlie  same  day  our  Indians  told 
us  of  a  perilous  rapid  ahead  which  the  Indians  of  the 
country  sometimes  shot  in  their  sinall  rafts  ;  but  they 
felt  very  anxious  in  regard  to  our  julky  vessel  of  forty- 
two  feet  in  length,  as  the  stream  nade  a  double  sharp 
bend  with  a  huge  rock  in  the  center.  "VVe  started  late  on 
the  morning  of  the  12th,  and  at  10  o'clodi  stopped  our 
raft  on  the  eastern  bank  in  order  to  go  ahead  and  inspect 
the  rapids  which  we  were  about  to  shoot.  I  found  them 
to  be  a  contraction  of  the  river  bed,  into  about  one-thii'd 
its  usual  width  of  from  four  to  six  hundred  yards,  and 
that  the  stream  was  also  imi^eded  hy  a  number  of  massive 
trap  rocks,  thirty  to  forty  feet  high,  lying  directly  in  the 
channel  and  dividing  it  into  three  or  four  well  marked 
channels,  the  second  from  the  east,  being  the  one  ordi- 
narily used  by  the  Indians.  We  rejected  this,  however, 
on  account  of  a  sharp  turn  in  it  whicii  could  not  be 
avoided.  These  rapids  were  very  picturesque,  as  they 
rushed  between  the  fantastically  formed  trap  rocks  and 
high  towers,  two  of  wliich  were  united  by  a  slender  nat- 


DOWN  THE  RIVER  TO  SELKIRK.  195 

ural  bridge  of  stone,  that  spanned  a  whirlpool,  making 
the  whole  look  like  an  old  ruined  stone  bridge  with  but 
one  arch  that  had  withstood  the  general  demolition. 
We  essayed  the  extreme  right-hand  (eastern)  passage, 
although  it  was  quite  narrow  and  its  boiling  current  was 
covered  with  waves  running  two  and  three  feet  high,  but 
being  the  straightest  was  the  best  for  our  long  craft. 
Thousands  of  gulls  had  made  the  top  of  these  isolated 
towers  their  breeding  places,  for  nothing  but  winged  life 
could  ever  reach  them,  and  here,  safe  from  all  intrusion, 
they  reared  their  young.  As  we  shot  by  on  the  raft  they 
rose  in  clouds  and  almost  drowned  the  noise  of  the  roar- 
ing waters  with  their  shrill  cries.  This  extreme  right- 
hand  channel  through  which  we  shot,  could,  I  believe,  be 
ascended  by  a  light-draft  river  steamer  provided  with  a 
steam  windlass,  a  sharp  bend  in  the  ri^er  bank  just 
before  it  is  entered  giving  a  short  and  secure  hold  for  a 
cable  rope  ;  and  if  I  am  not  too  sanguine  in  my  conject- 
ures, the  cascades  below  the  Grand  Caiion  mark  the  head 
of  navigation  on  the  Yukon  River,  as  already  noted.  I 
named  this  picturesque  little  rapid  after  Dr.  Henry 
Rink,  of  Christiana,  a  well-known  authority  on  Green- 
land. After  the  Yukon  receives  the  many  large  tribu- 
taries mentioned,  it  spreads  into  quite  a  formidable 
magnitude  ;  interspersed  with  many  islands,  all  of  which 
at  their  upper  ends,  are  so  loaded  with  great  piles  of 
driftwood,  oftentimes  fifteen  to  twenty  feet  high,  as  to 
make  the  vista  in  one  of  these  archipelagoes  quite  dif- 
ferent according  as  one  looks  up  or  down  the  river,  the 
former  resembling  the  picturesque  Thousand  Isles  of  the 
St.  Lawrence,  while  the  latter  reveals  only  a  dreary 
stretch  of  felled  timber,  lying  in  unpicturesque  groups, 


196  ALONG  ALASKA'S  GREAT  RIVER. 

with  the  bright  green  of  the  ishand  foliag(^  making  the 
dreariness  more  conspicuous. 

Fioni  Lake  Kluk-tas-si  ahnost  to  okl  Fort  Selkirk  we 
observed  along  the  steep  banks  of  the  river  a  most  con 
spicuous  white  stripe  some  t  ivo  or  three  inches  in  width. 
After  our  attention  had  been  attracted  to  this  phenome- 
non for  two  or  three  days,  we  proceeded  to  investigate  it. 
It  averaged  about  two  or  three  feet  below  the  surface,  and 
seemed  to  separate  the  recent  alluvial  deposits  from  the 
older  beds  of  clay  and  drift  below,  although  occasionally 
it  appeared  to  cut  into  both,  especially  the  alluvium. 
Occasionally,  although  at  very  rare  intervals,  there  were 
two  stripes  parallel  to  each  other  and  separated  by  a  few 
inches  of  black  earth,  while  oftentimes  the  stripe  was 
plain  on  one  side  of  the  river  and  wholly  wanting  on  the 
other.  A  close  inspection  showed  it  to  be  vol('ani(;  ash, 
sufficiently  consolidated  to  have  the  consistency  of  stiff 
earth,  but  nevertheless  so  friable  that  it  could  be  reduced 
to  powder  by  the  thumb  and  fingers.  It  possibly  repre- 
sents the  result  of  some  exceptional!}^  violent  erup- 
tion in  ancient  times  from  one  or  more  of  the  many 
volcanic  cones,  now  probably  extinct,  with  which  the 
whole  southern  coast  of  Alaska  is  studded.  The  ashes 
were  carried  far  and  wide  by  the  winds,  and  if  the  latter 
then,  as  now,  blew  almost  persistently  from  the  south- 
ward during  the  summer  (and  I  understand  the  reverse 
is  the  case  in  the  winter),  we  could  reasonably  fix  the 
eruption  at  that  time  of  the  year. 

The  Yukon  River  as  it  Avidens  also  becomes  very  tor- 
tuous in  many  places,  and  oftentimes  a  score  of  miles 
is  traversed  along  the  axis  of  the  stream  while  the  divid- 
ers on  the  map  hardly  show  half  a  dozen  between  the 


DOWN  THE  RIVER  TO  SELKIRK.  199 

same  points.  In  the  region  about  tlie  mouth  of  the  Nor- 
denskiold  River  a  conspicuous  bald  butte  could  be  seen 
directly  in  front  of  our  raft  no  less  than  seven  times,  on 
as  many  different  stretches  of  the  river.  I  called  it  Tan- 
talus Butte,  and  was  glad  enough  to  see  it  disappear 
from  sight. 

The  day  we  shot  the  Eink  Rapids,  and  only  a  few  hours 
afterward,  we  also  saw  our  first  moose  plowing  through 
the  willow  brush  on  the  eastern  bank  of  the  stream  like  a 
hurricane  in  his  frantic  endeavors  to  escape,  an  under- 
taking in  which  he  was  completely  successful.  When  first 
seen  by  one  of  the  party  on  the  raft,  his  great  broad  pal- 
mated  horns  rolling  through  the  top  of  the  willow  brake, 
with  an  occasional  glimpse  of  his  brownish  black  sides 
showing,  he  was  mistaken  for  an  Indian  running  down  a 
path  in  the  brake  and  swaying  his  arms  in  the  air  to  attract 
our  attention.  My  Winchester  express  rifle  was  near 
me,  and  as  the  ungainly  animal  came  into  full  sight  at  a 
place  where  a  little  creek  put  into  the  stream,  up  the 
valley  of  which  it  started,  I  had  a  fair  shot  at  about  a 
hundred  yards  ;  took  good  aim,  pulled  the  trigger — and 
the  cap  snapped,— and  I  saved  my  reputation  as  a  marks- 
man by  the  gun's  missing  fire.  This  moose  and  another 
about  four  hundred  miles  further  down  the  river  were  the 
only  two  we  saw  in  the  Yukon  Yalley,  although  in  the 
winter  they  are  quite  numerous  in  some  districts,  when 
the  mosquitoes  have  ceased  their  onslaughts. 

That  same  evening — the  12th,  we  encamped  near  the 
first  Indian  village  we  had  met  on  the  river,  and  even  this 
was  deserted.  It  is  called  by  them  Kit'-ah'-gon  (mean- 
ing the  place  between  high  hills),  and  consists  of  one  log 
house  about  eighteen  by  thirty  feet,  and  a  score  of  the 


200  ALONG  ALASKA'S  GREAT  RIVER. 

l)rush  houses  usual  in  this  country ;  that  is,  three  main 
poles,  one  mucli  longer  than  the  rest,  and  serving  as  a 
ridge  pole  on  which  to  pile  evergreen  brush  to  com- 
plete the  house.  This  brush  is  sometimes  replaced  by 
the  most  thoroughly  ventilated  reindeer  or  moose  skin, 
and  in  rare  cases  by  an  old  piece  of  canvas.  Such  are 
the  almost  constant  habitations  of  these  abject  creatures. 
When  I  tirst  saw  these  rude  brush  houses,  thrown 
together  without  regard  to  order  or  method,  I  thought 
they  were  scaffoldings  or  trellis  work  on  which  the 
Indians,  who  lived  in  the  log  house,  used  to  dry  the 
salmon  caught  by  them  during  the  summer,  but  my  guide, 
Indianne,  soon  explained  that  theory  aw^ay.  In  the 
spring  Kit'-ah'-gon  is  deserted  by  its  Indian  inmates,  vv  ho 
then  ascend  the  river  with  loads  so  light  that  they  may 
be  carried  on  the  back.  By  the  time  winter  approaches 
they  have  worked  so  far  away,  accumulating  the  scanty 
stores  of  salmon,  moose,  black  bear,  and  caribou,  on 
which  they  are  to  subsist,  that  they  build  a  light  raft 
from  the  driftwood  strewn  along  banks  of  the  river,  and 
float  toward  home,  where  they  live  in  squalor  through- 
out the  winter.  These  rafts  are  almost  their  sole  means 
of  navigation  from  the  Grand  Canon  to  old  Fort  Selkirk, 
and  the  triangular  brush  houses  almost  their  only 
abodes  ;  and  all  this  in  a  country  teeming  with  wood  fit 
for  log-houses,  and  affording  plenty  of  birch  bark  from 
which  can  be  made  the  finest  of  canoes.  Kit'-ali-gon  is  in 
a  beautiful  large  valley,  as  its  Indian  name  would  imply 
(T  nam-^d  it  Von  Wilczek  Valley,  after  Graf  von  AVilczek 
of  Vienna),  and  I  was  surprised  to  see  it  drained  by  so 
small  a  stream  as  the  one,  l)ut  ten  or  twenty  feet  wide, 
which  empties  itself  at  the  valley's  mouth.  Its  proximity 


mmm& 


;m 


%  ■.     I 


e        rE 


§  » 

g.  o 

•1 

<  ^ 

J  5 

i  3 

§  § 

C  O 

N  '- 


'i  I 


,%rJi 


m 


DOWN  THE  RIVER  TO  SELKIRK.  203 

to  the  Pelly,  twenty  miles  further  on,  forbids  its  drain- 
ing a  great  area,  yet  its  valley  is  much  the  more  con- 
spicuous of  the  two.  Photographs  of  this  and  adjacent 
scenes  on  the  river  were  secured  by  Mr.  Homan  before 
departing,  and  a  rough  "prospect"  in  the  high  bank 
near  the  river  showed  ' '  color ' '  enough  to  encourage  the 
hope  of  some  enthusiastic  miner  in  regard  to  finding 
something  more  attractive.  Looking  back  up  the  Yukon  a 
most  prominent  landmark  is  found  in  a  bold  bluff  that 
will  always  be  a  conspicuous  point  on  the  river,  and 
which  is  shown  on  page  193.  I  named  this  bluff  after 
General  Charles  G.  Loring,  of  the  Boston  Museum  of  Fine 
Arts. 

From  Yon  Wilczek  valley  to  old  Fort  Selkirk  is  but  a 
little  over  twenty  miles  ;  and  the  river  is  so  full  of  islands 
in  many  places  that  for  long  stretches  we  could  hardly 
see  both  banks  at  a  time,  while  it  was  nothing  unusual 
to  have  both  out  of  sight  at  points  where  the  islands 
were  most  numerous.  This  cluster  of  islands  (named 
after  Colonel  Ingersoll,  of  Washington),  is,  I  think,  situ- 
ated in  the  bed  of  one  of  the  ancient  lakes  of  which  I 
have  spoken,  although  the  opinion  of  a  professional 
geologist  would  be  needed  to  settle  such  a  matter. 

At  3  p.  M.  we  reached  the  site  of  old  Fort  Selkirk. 
All  our  maps,  some  half  a  dozen  in  number,  except  one, 
had  placed  the  site  of  Selkirk  at  the  junction  of  the 
Pelly  and  Yukon  between  the  two,  the  single  exception 
noted  placing  it  on  the  north  bank  of  the  Pelly 
where  the  streams  unite.  Noticing  this  discrepancy  I 
asked  Indianne  for  an  explanation,  and  he  told  me  that 
neither  was  correct,  but  that  the  chimneys  of  the  old 
ruins  would  be  found  on  the  south  side  of  the  river  about 


204  ALONG  ALASKA'S  GREAT  RIVER. 

a  mile  below  the  junction,  and  I  found  him  correct,  the 
chimneys  being  visible  fully  a  mile  before  we  reached 
them.  Here  we  were  on  land  familiar  to  the  footsteps  of 
white  men  who  had  made  maps  and  charts,  that  rough 
and  rude  though  they  were,  were  still  entitled  to  respect, 
and  accordingly  at  this  point  I  considered  that  my  ex- 
plorations had  ceased,  although  my  surveys  v/ere  con- 
tinued to  the  mouth  of  the  river  ;  making  the  distinction 
that  the  first  survey  only  is  an  exploration,  a  distinc- 
tion which  I  believe  is  rapidly  coming  into  vogue.  Alto- 
gether on  the  Yukon  River,  this  far,  there  had  been  taken 
thirty-four  astronomical  observations,  foar  hundred  and 
twenty -five  with  the  prismatic  compass,  and  tAA  o  for  vari- 
ation of  compass.  I  have  no  doubt  that  these  are  suffi- 
ciently accurate  at  least  for  all  practical  purposes  of 
geographical  exploration  in  this  country,  until  more  ex- 
act surveys  are  demanded  by  the  ojiening  of  some  indus- 
try or  commerce,  should  that  time  ever  come.  The  total 
length  of  this  portion  of  the  river  just  traversed  from 
Haines  Mission  to  Selkirk  was  five  hundred  and  thirty- 
nine  miles  ;  the  total  length  of  the  raft  journey  from  its 
commencement  at  the  camp  on  Lake  Lindeman  being 
four  hundred  and  eighty-seven  miles  ;  while  we  had 
sailed  and  "tracked  "  and  rowed  across  seven  lakes  for 
a  distance  aggregating  one  hundred  and  thirty-four 
tniJ^^s. 


3    s      M 


CHAPTER  IX. 


THEOUGH  THE  UPPER  RAMPARTS. 


T  the  site  of  old  Fort  Selkirk 
commences  the  Upper  Ram- 
parts of  the  Yukon,  or  where 
that  mighty  stream  cuts 
through  the  terminal  spurs  of 
the  Rocky  Mountains,  a  dis- 
tance of  nearly  four  hundred 
miles,  the  first  hundred  of 
which,  terminating  near  the 
mouth  of  the  Stewart  River,  are 
almost  equal  to  the  Yosemite  or  Yellowstone  in  stupen- 
dous grandeur. 

I  was  very  anxious  to  determine  beyond  all  reasonable 
doubt  the  relative  sizes  of  the  two  rivers  whose  waters 
unite  just  above  old  Fort  Selkirk,  as  upon  this  determi- 
nation rested  the  important  question  whether  the  Pelly 
or  the  Lewis  River  of  the  old  Hudson  Bay  traders,  who 
had  roughly  explored  the  former,  ought  to  be  called  the 
Yukon  proper  ;  and  in  order  to  settle  this  point  I  was 
fully  j)repared  and  determined  to  make  exact  measure- 
ments, soundings,  rate  of  current  and  any  other  data 
that  might  be  necessary.  This  information,  however,  was 
unnecessary  except  in  a  rough  form,  as  the  preponder- 
ance of  the  old  Lewis  River  was  too  evident  to  the  most 
casual  inspection  to  require  any  exactness  to  confirm  it. 


208  ALONG  ALASKA'S  GREAT  RIVER. 

The  ratio  oi'  their  respective  width  is  about  five  to  three, 
with  about  tlie  ratio  of  five  to  four  in  depth  ;  the  latter, 
however,  being  a  very  rough  approximation  ;  the  Lewis 
River  being  superior  in  both,  and  for  this  reason  I  aban- 
doned the  latter  name,  and  it  appears  on  the  map  as  the 
Yukon  to  Crater  Lake  at  its  head. 

At  old  Fort  Selkirk  nothing  but  the  chimneys,  three 
in  number — two  of  t^em  quite  conspicuous  at  some  dis- 
tance— are  left  standing,  the  blackened  embers  scattered 
around  still  attesting  the  manner  of  its  fate.  From  the 
careful  and  substantial  manner  in  which  the  rubble  stone 
chimneys  were  constructed,  this  Hudson  Bay  Company 
post  was  evidently  intended  to  be  permanent,  and  from 
the  complete  destruction  of  all  the  wood  work,  the  Chil- 
kat  Indians,  its  destroyers,  evidently  intended  that  its 
eflfacement  should  be  complete.  The  fate  of  this  post  has 
been  alluded  to  in  an  earlier  part  of  the  narrative.  Here 
we  remained  two  or  three  days,  making  an  astronomical 
determination  of  position,  the  mean  of  our  results 
being  latitude  62°  45'  46"  north,  longitude  137°  22'  45" 
west  from  Greenwich. 

No  meteorological  observations  were  taken  thus  far  on 
the  river,  the  party  not  being  furnished  with  a  complete 
set  of  instruments,  and  our  rapid  passage  through  a  vast 
tract  of  territory  making  the  usefulness  to  science 
highly  problematical.  The  nearest  point  to  the 
Upper  "iTukon  at  which  regular  observations  of  this 
character  are  recorded  is  the  Chilkat  salmon-cannery 
of  the  North-west  Trading  Company,  on  Cliilkat 
Inlet.  Tlie  two  region^  are  separated  by  the  Kotusk 
Mountains,  a  circumstance  whicli  makes  meteorologi- 
cal inferences  very  unreliable.     Climatology  is  better 


n-" 

f 

O 

"•I 

O 

p 

is 

o 

ty 

s 

S 

H 

S 

O 

P* 

H 

or 

o 

pr 

!^ 

*d 

n 

•^ 

a 

fr^ 

H 

s 

K 

o 

rr 

H 

ffi 

p« 

H 

«e 

B 

►ri 

P' 

t^ 

rr 

r 

o 

r 

pr 

k; 

"^ 

ft 

1 

<1 

rr 

» 

if 


ffiafi»iiapw«ri'  ¥T(r  -^rr  ■ 


THROUGH  THE  UPPER  RAMPARTS.  211 

represented,  however,  in  regard  to  the  subject  of 
botany.  Quite  a  number  of  botanical  specimens  were 
collected  on  the  Upper  Yukon,  and  have  since  been 
placed  in  the  able  hands  of  Professor  Watson,  curator  of 
the  Harvard  herbarium,  for  analysis.  While  only  a 
partial  and  crude  collection  made  by  an  amateur,  it  has 
thrown  some  little  light  on  the  general  character  of  the 
flora,  as  limited  to  the  river  bed,  which  we  seldom 
quitted  in  the  discharge  of  our  more  important  duties 
connected  with  the  main  object  of  the  expedition.  Pro- 
fessor Watson' s  rex)ort  on  this  small  collection  will  be 
found  in  the  Appendix. 

The  extent  of  the  Alaskan  expedition  of  1883  was  so  great 
that  I  deemed  it  best  to  divide  the  map  of  its  route  into  con- 
venient sections  ;  and  the  three  subdivisions,  the  second 
of  which  this  chapter  commences,  were  made  wholly  with 
reference  to  my  own  travels.  It  is  therefore  not  intended 
in  any  other  way  as  a  geograp>hical  division  of  this  great 
river,  although  it  might  not  be  altogether  unavailable  or 
inappropriate  for  such  a  purpose.  The  Middle  Yukon, 
as  we  called  it  on  our  expedition,  extends  from  the  site  of 
old  Fort  Selkirk  to  old  Fort  Yukon,  at  the  great  Arctic 
hend  of  the  Yukon,  as  it  is  sometimes  and  very  appropri- 
ately termed — a  part  of  the  stream  which  we  know  approx- 
imately from  the  rough  maps  of  the  Hudson  Bay  Compa- 
ny's  traders,  who  formerly  trafficked  along  these 
waters,  and  from  information  derived  from  pioneers  of 
the  Western  Union  Telegraph  Company  and  others. 
This  part  of  the  river,  nearly  five  hundred  miles  in 
length,  had,  therefore,  already  been  explored  ;  and  to 
my  expedition  fell  the  lot  of  being  the  first  to  give  it  a 
survej^,  which  though  far  from  perfection,  is   the  first 


:12  ALONG  ALASKA'S  GREAT  RIVER. 

worthy  of  tht^  name,  and  is,  I  believe,  like  that  of  the 
Uppcn"  Yukon,  (sufficient  to  answer  all  purposes  until 
-\[ch  time  as  commerce  may  be  established  on  the  river 
subservient  to  the  industries,  either  of  mining  or  of  fish- 
ing, that  may  hereafter  spring  up  along  its  course. 

I  have  just  spoken  of  the  comparative  sizes  of  the 
Pelly  and  Lewis  Rivers,  as  showing  the  latter  to  be 
undoubtedly  the  Yidvon  proper ;  and  the  view  on  page 
209,  taken  looking  into  the  mouth  of  the  Pelly  fi'oni  an 
island  at  the  junction  of  the  two  streams,  as  well  as  that 
on  page  213,  looking  back  up  the  Yukon  (old  Lewis 
River),  from  the  site  of  old  Selkirk,  shows  the  evident 
preponderance  of  the  latter,  although  in  the  case  of 
the  Pelly  but  one  of  its  mouths,  the  lower  and 
larger  of  the  two  that  encircle  the  island,  can  be 
seen  distinctly. 

The  bars  at  the  mouth  of  the  Pelly  are  a  little  richer 
in  placer  gold  "color"  than  any  for  a  considerable  dis- 
tance on  either  side  along  the  Yukon,  creating  the 
reasonable  inference  that  the  mineral  has  been  carried 
down  the  former  stream,  an  inference  which  is  strength- 
ened by  the  reports  that  gold  in  paying  quantities  has 
been  discovered  on  the  Pelly,  and  is  now  being  worked 
successfully,  although  upon  a  somewhat  limited  scale. 
Even  the  high,  flat  plateau  on  which  old  Fort  Selkirk 
was  built  is  a  bed  of  fine  gravel  that  glistens  with  grains 
of  gold  in  the  miner's  pan,  and  might  possibly  ''pay" 
in  more  favorable  climes,  where  the  ground  is  not  frozen 
the  greater  part  of  the  year.  Little  did  the  old  traders 
of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  imagine  that  their  house 
was  built  on  such  an  auriferous  soil,  and  possibly  little 
did  they  care,  as  in  this  rich  fur  district  they  possessed 


pffl^53ifi3pwri^li  li;1 


il  , 


F« 


''^^>,i>' 


il*''  •'yh'^^ 


p 


■  '-g^lj^-ii-  -  ,f«^>s:^-  •xyijiftjsss;^-:'*!?--^^^^^-  S 


THROUGH  THE  UPPER  RAMPARTS.  215 

an  enterprise  more  valuable  than  a  gold  mine,  if  an 
American  can  imagine  sucli  a  thing. 

The  perpendicular  bluff  of  eruptive  rock,  distinctly 
columnar  in  many  places,  and  with  its  talus  reaching 
from  half  to  two-thirds  the  way  to  the  top,  as  shown  in 
the  view  looking  into  the  mouth  of  the  Pelly,  on  page 
209,  and  the  view  on  page  205  also,  extends  up  that 
stream  on  the  north  or  right  bank  as  far  as  it  was  visited, 
some  two  or  three  miles,  and  so  continues  down  the  Yukon 
along  the  same  (north)  bank  for  twelve  or  thirteen  miles, 
when  the  encroaching  high  mountains,  forming  the  ujDper 
gates  of  the  ramparts,  obliterate  it  as  a  later  formation. 
In  but  one  place  that  I  saw  along  this  extended  front  of 
rocky  parapet  was  there  a  gap  sufficient  to  permit  of 
one's  climbing  from  the  bottom,  over  the  rough  debris,  to 
the  level  grassy  plateau  that  extended  backward  from 
its  crest ;  although  in  many  places  this  plateau  could 
be  gained  by  alpine  climbing  for  short  distances,  up  the 
•crevices  in  the  body  of  the  steep  rock.  This  level 
plateau  does  not  extend  far  back  before  the  foot  of  the 
high  rolling  hills  is  gained. 

In  the  illustration  on  page  209  the  constant  barricades 
of  tangled  driftwood  encountered  everywhere  on  the 
upstream  ends  and  promontories  of  the  many  islands  of 
these  rivers  are  shown,  although  the  quantity  shown  in 
the  view  falls  greatly  below  the  average,  the  heads  of  the 
islands  being  often  piled  up  with  stacks  ten  or  twenty 
feet  high,  which  are  useful  in  one  way,  as  forming  a  dam 
that  serves  during  freshets  and  high  water,  to  protect 
them  more  or  less  from  the  eroding  power  of  the  rapid 
river. 

A  grave  or  burial  place  of  the  Ayan  (or  lyan)  Indians 


216  ALONG  ALASKA'S  GREAT  RIVER. 

probably  some  three  montlis  old,  planted  on  the  ver}' 
edge  of  the  river  bank  near  the  site  of  old  Fort  Selkirk, 
was  a  type  of  the  many  we  afterward  saw  at  intervals 
from  this  point  for  about  two-thirds  of  the  distance  to 
old  Fort  Yukon,  and  is  rejiresented  on  page  217.  Before 
burial  the  body  is  bent  with  the  knees  up  to  the  breast, 
so  as  to  occupy  as  little  longitudinal  space  as  possible, 
and  is  inclosed  in  a  very  rough  box  of  hewn  boards  two 
and  three  inches  thick,  cut  out  by  means  of  rude  native 
axes,  and  is  then  buried  in  the  ground,  the  lid  of  the 
coffin,  if  it  can  be  called  such,  seldom  being  over  a  foot 
or  a  foot  and  a  half  below  the  surface  of  the  pile.  The 
grave's  inclosure  or  fence  is  constructed  of  roughly-hewn 
boards,  standing  upright  and  closely  joined  edge  to  edge, 
four  corner-posts  being  prolonged  above,  and  somewhat 
neatly  rounded  into  a  bed-post  design  represented  in  the 
figure,  from  which  they  seldom  dej^art.  It  is  lashed  at 
the  top  by  a  wattling  of  willow  withes,  tlie  lower  ends  of 
the  boards  being  driven  a  short  way  into  the  ground, 
while  one  or  two  intermediate  strij)es  of  red  paint  resem- 
ble other  bands  when  viewed  at  a  distance.  From  the 
grave  itself  is  erected  a  long,  light  pole  twenty  or  twenty- 
five  feet  in  height,  having  usually  a  piece  of  colored  cloth 
flaunting  from  its  top ;  although  in  this  particular 
instance  the  cloth  was  of  a  dirty  white.  Not  far  away, 
and  always  close  enough  to  show  that  it  is  some  super- 
stitious adjunct  of  the  grave  itself,  stands  another  pole 
of  about  equal  height,  to  the  top  of  which  there  is 
fastened  a  poorly  carved  wooden  figure  of  a  fish,  duck, 
goose,  bear,  or  some  other  animal  or  bird,  this  being,  I 
believe,  a  sort  of  savage  totem  designating  th-^  family  or 
sub-clan  of  the  tribe  to  v/hich  the  deceased  belonged. 


4^ 


►'*» 


?-,; » 


"^(9^!^  "■ 


^'%^''t. 


AYAX    GRAVE   NEAR    OLD    FORT    SELKIRK. 

Looking  across  and  down  the  Yukon  River. 


THROUGH  THE  UPPER  RAMPARTS.  219 

This  second  pole  may  be,  and  very  often  is,  a  fine  young 
spruce  tree  of  proper  height  and  shape  and  convenient 
situation,  stripped  of  its  limbs  and  peeled  of  its  bark." 
The  little  "  totem  "  figure  at  the  toj)  may  thus  be  easily 
placed  in  position  before  the  limbs  are  cut  off.  It  is  some- 
times constructed  as  a  weather-vane,  or  more  probably 
it  is  easier  to  secure  firmly  in  its  position  by  a  wooden 
pin  driven  vertically,  and  so  as  the  green  wood  seasons 
and  shrinks  it  becomes  as  it  were  a  sepulcral  anemoscope 
without  having  been  so  intended.  These  poles  may  be 
horizontally  striped  with  native  red  paint,  and  the  out- 
side pole  has  one  or  more  pieces  of  cloth  suspended  from 
its  trunk.  These  graves  are  always  near  the  river  shore, 
generally  on  the  edge  of  a  high  gravel  bank  which  is  in 
course  of  excavation  by  the  swift  current,  and  when 
fresh  and  the  boards  white  are  visible  from  a  distance  of 
many  miles.  There  is  no  tendency,  as  far  as  I  could  see, 
to  group  them  into  graveyards,  beyond  the  fact  that  they 
are  a  little  more  numerous  near  their  semi-permanent  vil- 
lages than  elsewhere,  the  convenience  of  interment  being 
evidently  the  controlling  cause  of  location.  Leaving  out 
the  two  high  poles,  there  is  a  rough  resemblance  to  the 
graves  of  civilized  countries  ;  and  no  doubt  much  of 
their  form  and  structure  is  due  to  the  direct  or  indirect 
contact  with  civilization.  My  own  Indians  (Chilkats) 
told  me  that  they  formerly  placed  the  bodies  of  their 
dead  on  pole  scaffoldings  in  the  branches  of  the  trees  near 
the  river  bank,  somewhat  after  the  manner  of  the  Sioux 
and  other  Indian  tribes  of  our  great  western  plains  ;  and 
in  one  instance  a  very  old,  rotten  and  dilapidated  scaffold 
in  a  tree  was  pointed  out  to  me  as  having  once  served 
that  purpose,  although  there  were  no  indications  to  con- 


2^0  ALONG  ALAS:^A'S  GREAT  RIVEti, 

firm  the  story  ;  but  these  might  have  easily  been  obliter- 
ated. They  also  make  small  scaffoldings  or  little 
caches  in  the  lower  branches  of  trees  to  protect  their  con- 
tents, usually  iH-ovisions  and  clothing, from  bears,  wolves, 
and  x)ossibly  from  their  own  dogs,  of  which  they  possess 
large  numbers  of  a  black  and  brown  mongrel  breed.  In 
the  summer  time  these  curs  are  endnently  worthless  except 
as  scavengers  for  the  refuse  decaying  salmon,  but 
in  th(3  \vinter  season  they  are  used  to  draw  the  rude 
native  sledges  and  to  assist  in  trailing  moose  and 
cari})0u. 

Mr.  Iloman  succeeded  in  getting  a  photograph 
(page  221),  of  a  group  of  Ayan  or  lyan  Indians,  with 
their  birch-bark  canoes.  We  found  it  very  difficult  to 
keep  these  nervous  fellows  still ;  and,  as  far  as  fine 
rendering  of  features  is  concerned,  the  photograph  was 
not  i)erfect.  Their  birch-bark  canoes  are  the  best  on 
any  part  of  the  long  river  for  lightness,  compactness, 
and  neatness  of  l)uild  and  design,  and  form  a  most 
remarkable  contrast  to  the  unwieldy  dilapidated  "dug- 
outs" of  the  Tahk-heesh  Indians  above  them  on  the 
^  Yukon.     The   Ayan  canoe   paddle,    well 

**^'''*'*^^°™'       shown  in  outline  in  the  hands  of  one  of 

CROSS-SECTION  AYAN 

cANoii  I'Ai.DLK.  w^Q  group,  is  of  the  cross-section  on  this 
page,  the  ridge  or  rib  r  being  always  held  to  the 
rear  in  using  it.  In  addition  to  the  i)ciddle,  the  canoe- 
man  keeps  with  him  two  light  poles,  about  as  long  as 
the  paddle  itself,  and  as  heavy  as  its  handle  ;  and  these 
are  employed  in  ascending  the  river,  the  pole  man 
keeping  near  the  shallow  shores,  and  using  one  in  each 
hand  on  either  side  of  the  canoe,  poling  against  the 
bottom.     So  swift  is  the  river  in  these  parts  (and  in  fact 


THROUGH  THE  UPPER  RAMPARTS.  223 

it  is  extremely  rapid  during  its  entire  course),  that  tlie 
iiative  canoemen  use  no  otlier  method  in  ascending  it, 
except  for  very  short  distances.  The  Eskimo  method, 
in  use  on  the  lower  part  of  the  river,  of  harnessing  dogs 
to  their  craft  like  canal  horses  and  towing  them  along 
the  banks,  I  did  not  see  in  operation  during  my  stay 
among  the  Ayans,  although  they  possessed  all  the 
requisites  for  such  an  easy  and  convenient  method  of 
navigation.  In  descending  the  river  the  current  is  the 
main  motive  power,  es]pecially  for  long  journeys,  and  the 
paddle  is  only  sparingly  used  to  keep  the  canoe  in  the 
swiftest  part  of  the  stream.  When  required,  however, 
they  can  go  at  a  speed  that  few  canoemen  in  the  world, 
savage  or  civilized,  can  equal. 

Two  species  of  fish  were  caught  from  the  banks  near 
the  site  of  Selkirk,  the  grayling  being  of  the  same  kind 
we  had  caught  near  the  rajDids  just  above  and  below  the 
Grand  Canon,  and  had  found  in  varying  numbers  from 
Perthes  Point  in  Lake  Bove,  to  the  mouth  of  White 
River,  nearly  a  hundred  miles  below  Selkirk,  averaging 
a  trifle  over  a  pound  in  weight  ;  and  a  trout-like  salmon, 
caught  occasionally  from  Lake  Nares  to  White  River, 
sometimes  with  an  artificial  fly,  but  more  frequently  on  the 
trout  lines  with  baited  hooks  that  were  put  out  over  night 
wherever  we  camped.  A  most  disgusting  and  hideous 
species  of  eel-pout  monopolized  our  trout  lines  whenever 
they  were  put  out  at  this  point,  from  which  even  the 
invincible  stomachs  of  our  Indian  allies  and  visitors  had 
to  refrain.  Small  black  gnats,  somewhat  resembling  the 
buffalo  gnats  of  the  plains,  were  observed  near  Selkirk 
m  considerable  numbers,  and  our  Indians  hinted  that 
they  indicated  the  presence  of  large  game,  a  story  which 


224  ALONG  ALASKA'S  GREAT  RIVER 

we  would  gladly  have  had  cori'oborated,  but  in  this  we 
were  disappointed. 

We  got  away  from  Selkirk  on  July  15th,  shortly  after 
noontime,  having  waited  for  a  meridian  culmination  of 
the  sun  in  order  to  take  an  observation  for  latitude. 
The  country  gradually  becomes  more  mountainous  as 
we  descend,  and  this  bold  character  continues  with  but 
slight  exceptions  for  over  a  hundred  miles  further.  The 
river  view  reminded  me  strongly  of  the  Columbia  River 
near  the  Cascades,  the  Hudson  at  West  Point,  or  the 
Potomac  at  Harper's  Ferry,  differing  only  in  the  pres- 
ence everywhere  of  innumerable  islands,  a  permanent 
characteristic  of  the  Yukon,  and  one  in  which  it  exceeds 
any  other  stream  known  to  me,  whether  from  observa- 
tion or  description. 

Altl:fcough  we  had  understood  from  the  few^  Indians 
who  had  visited  us  in  their  canoes,  that  their  village  was 
but  a  few  miles  below  Fort  Selkirk,  we  had  become  so 
accustomed  to  finding  insignificant  parties  of  natives, 
here  and  there,  that  it  was  a  great  surprise  to  us  when 
we  suddenly  rounded  the  lower  end  of  an  island  about 
four  o'clock  that  afternoon,  and  saw  from  a  hundred  anc*. 
seventy-five  to  two  hundred  wild  savages  drawn  up  ready 
to  receive  us  on  the  narrow  beach  in  front  of  their  brush 
village  on  the  south  side  of  the  river.  Our  coming 
had  evidently  been  heralded  by  couriers,  and  all  of  the 
natives  were  apparently  half -frantic  with  excitement  for 
fear  we  might  drift  by  without  visiting  them.  They  ran  up 
and  down  the  bank  wildly  swaying  their  arms  in  the  air, 
and  shouting  and  screaming  to  the  great  fleet  of  canoes 
thnt  surrounded  us,  until  I  feared  they  might  have  un- 
friendly designs,  and  in  fact,  their  numbers  appeared 


THROUGH  THE  UPPER  RAMPARTS.  225 

SO  overwhelming  when  compared  with  our  little  band  that 
I  gave  the  necessary  orders  in  respect  to  arms  so  as  to 
give  the  Indians  as  little  advantage  as  possible  in  case 
of  an  encounter  at  such  close  quarters.  A  line  was  car- 
ried ashore  by  means  of  these  canoes,  and  every  man, 
woman  and  child  in  tlie  crowd  made  an  attempt  to  get 
hold  of  it,  the  foremost  of  them  running  out  into  the 
ice-cold  water  up  to  the  very  arm-pits  in  order  to  seize 
it,  and  the  great  gridiron  of  logs  went  cutting  through 
the  water  like  a  steam-launch,  and  brought  up  against 
the  shore  in  a  way  that  nearly  took  us  off  our  feet. 

Immediately  after  our  raft  was  securely  moored,  the 
crowd  of  Indians  who  lined  the  narrow  beach  commenced 
singing  and  dancing — men  and  boys  on  the  (their)  left, 
and  women  and  girls  on  the  right.  The  song  was  low  and 
monotonous,  but  not  melodious,  bearing  a  resemblance  to 
savage  music  in  general.  Their  outspread  hands  were 
placed  on  their  hips,  their  arms  akimbo,  and  they  swayed 
from  side  to  side  as  far  as  their  lithe  bodies  would  per- 
mit, keeping  time  to  the  rude  tune  in  alternate  oscilla- 
tions to  the  right  and  left,  all  moving  synchronously  and 
in  the  same  direction,  their  long  black  masses  of  hair 
floating  wildly  to  and  fro,  and  serving  the  practical  pur- 
pose of  keeping  off  the  gnats  and  mosquitoes  which  other- 
wise might  have  made  any  out-door  enjoyments  impossi- 
ble. During  all  this  time  the  medicine  men  went  through 
the  most  hideous  gymnastics  possible  along  the  front  of 
the  line,  one  who  liad  a  blue-black  blanket  with  a  St. 
George's  cross  of  flaming  red  in  its  center  being  especi- 
ally conspicuous.  He  excelled  in  striking  theatrical  atti- 
tudes of  the  most  sensational  order,  in  which  the  showy 
blanket  was  made  to  do  its  part,  and  he  was  forthwith 


226  ALONG  ALASKA'S  GREAT  RIVER. 

dubbed  Hamlet  by  the  men  of  the  party,  by  way  of  a  sub- 
stitute for  his  almost  unpronounceable  name.  Even  after 
the  performance,  this  pompous  individual  strutted  along 
the  banks  as  if  he  owned  the  whole  British  Xorth-west 
territory;  a  pretension  that  was  contradicted  by  his  per- 
sistent begging  for  every  trifling  object  that  attracted  his 
eye,  as  though  he  had  never  owned  any  thing  of  value  in 
his  life.  After  the  singing  and  dancing  were  over,  a  few 
trifling  presents  were  given  to  most  of  the  Indians  as  a 
reward  for  their  entertainment.  A  photograph  was  at- 
temjjtedby  Mr.  Homan  of  this  dancing  group,  but  the  day 
was  so  unfavorable,  with  its  black  lowering  clouds,  the 
amateur  apparatus  so  incomplete,  and  the  right  moment 
so  hard  to  seize,  that  the  effect  was  a  complete  failure. 
Once  or  twice  we  got  the  long  line  in  position  in  their  best 
attitudes,  "  Hamlet "  looking  his  most  ferocious,  and  re- 
sembling a  spread  eagle  with  the  feathers  pulled  out,  but 
just  as  the  photographer  was  ready  to  pull  the  cap  off  the 
camera,  some  impatient  young  fellow,  inspired  by  the 
crowd  and  the  attitude  of  dancing,  would  begin  to 
hum  their  low  song  of  Yi-yi-yi-yi's  and  it  was  as  impos- 
sible to  keep  the  others  from  taking  up  the  cadence  and 
swaying  themselves  as  it  was  to  arrest  the  earth's 
revolution. 

From  a  book  written  by  a  j^revious  traveler  on  the 
lower  river,  who  pretended  to  a  knowledge  of  the  tribes 
upon  its  upper  part  also,  I  had  been  deluded  into  the 
idea  that  useful  articles — such  as  knives,  saws,  and  files, 
— were  the  best  for  trading  purposes  with  these  Indians, 
or  for  the  hire  of  native  help;  but  I  was  not  long  in  find- 
ing out  that  this  was  most  gratuitous  misinformation;  for 
the  constant  burden  of  their  solicitations  was  a  request 


THROUGH  THE  UPPER  RAMPARTS.  227 

for  tea  and  tobacco,  small  quantities  of  which  tliey  get 
by  barter  with  intermediate  riparian  tribes.  These 
wants  I  found  to  extend  among  the  natives  throughout 
the  whole  length  of  the  river  in  varying  degrees,  and,  as 
the  former  article  is  very  light,  I  would  especially  recom- 
mend it  to  those  about  to  enter  the  country  for  jjurposes 
of  scientific  research,  for  which  it  is  such  a  grand  field. 
Next  to  tea  and  tobacco,  which  we  could  only  spare  in 
small  quantities,  fish-hooks  seemed  to  be  in  good  demand 
among  this  particular  tribe  ;  and  the  very  few  articles 
they  had  to  spare,  mostly  horn  spoons,  and  birch-bark 
ladles  and  buckets  were  eagerly  exchanged.  Below 
White  River,  fishing  on  the  Yukon  with  hook  and  line 
ceases,  and  fish-hooks  are  worthless  as  articles  of  ex- 
change. Another  article  freely  brought  us  was  the  pair 
of  small  bone  gambling-tools  (shown 
on  this  page)  so  characteristic  of  the 


]) 


whole  north-west  country.    They  have    [  j 


been    described    when    speaking    of      atan  and  chilkat 

"  GAMBLING  TOOLS. 

the  Chilkat  Indians  and  I  saw    no  scaiej^. 

material  difference  in  their  use  by  this  particular  tribe. 
These  Indians  call  themselves  the  A-yans — with  an 
occasional  leaning  of  the  pronunciation  toward  I-yan  ; 
and  this  village,  so  they  said,  contained  the  majority  of 
the  tribe,  although  from  their  understanding  of  the 
question  they  may  have  meant  that  it  was  the  largest 
village  of  the  tribe.  Their  country,  as  they  claim  it, 
extends  up  the  Pelly — the  Indian  name  of  which  is 
Ay  an — to  the  lakes,  up  the  Yukon  from  this  point  to 
the  village  of  Kit'-ah-gon,  and  down  that  stream  to 
near  the  mouth  of  the  White  and  Stewart  Rivers,  where 
they  are  succeeded  by  a  tribe  called  the  N etch-on! -dees 


228  ALONG  ALASKA'S  GREAT  RIVER. 

or  Na-chon'  -des — the  Indian  name  of  the  Stewart  River 
being  Na-chon'-de.  They  are  a  strictly  riparian  race 
of  people  and  define  their  country  only  as  it  extends 
along  the  princij)al  streams.  From  the  river  as  a  home 
or  base,  however,  they  make  frequent  hunting  excur- 
sions to  the  interior  in  the  winter  time  for  moose  and 
caribou.  This  village,  which  they  called  KaJi-tung, 
seemed  to  be  of  a  semi-permanent  character  ;  the  houses 
or  huts  made  of  spruce  brush,  over  the  top  of  w^hich 
there  was  an  occasional  piece  of  well-worn  cloth  or  dirty 
canvas,  but  more  often  a  moose  or  caribou  skin.  These 
brush  houses  were  squalid  affairs,  and  especially  so 
compared  with  the  bright  intelligent  features  of  the 
makers,  and  with  some  of  their  other  handicraft,  such 
as  their  canoes  and  native  wearing  apparel.  The  little 
civilized  clothing  they  j)ossess  is  obtained  by  barter  with 
neighboring  tribes,  and  has  generally  been  worn  out  by 
the  latter  before  they  exchange,  hence  it  is  tattered  and 
filthy  beyond  measure,  and  in  no  wise  so  w^ell  adapted 
to  their  purpose  as  the  native  clothing  of  buckskin.  One 
coukl  hardly  stand  up  in  these  brush  houses,  they  were 
built  so  low,  and  any  attempt  to  do  so  was  frustrated  by 
the  quantities  of  odoriferous  salmon  hanging  down  from 
the  squat  roofs,  undergoing  a  process  of  smoking  in  the 
dense  clouds  that  emanated  from  spruce-knot  fires  on 
the  floor.  These  ornaments,  coupled  with  the  thick 
carpeting  of  live  dogs  upon  the  floor,  made  the  outside 
of  the  house  the  most  pleasant  part  of  it.  The  houses 
were  generally  double,  facing  each  other,  with  a  narrow 
aisle  a  foot  or  two  wide  l)etw^een,  each  one  containing  a 
single  family,  and  being  about  the  area  of  a  common  or 
government  A  tent.     The  ridge-poles  were  common  to 


THROUGH  THE  UPPER  RAMPARTS.  229 

the  two  houses,  and  as  both  leaned  forward  considerably 
this  gave  them  strength  to  resist  violent  winds.  The 
diagram  on  this  page  gives  a  ground  plan  of  an  Ayan 
double  brush-house.  The  village  of  Kah-tung  contained 
about    twenty    of     these 


squalid  huts,  huddled  near 
the  river  bank,  and  alto- 
gether was  the  largest  In- 
dian village  we  saw  on  the      \ 


\ 


whole  length  of  the  Yukon  '" -^-5 


1 

/ 


PLAN   OP  AYAN  SUMMER  HOUSE  OF  BRUSH. 


Eiver. 

There  was  a  most  decided  Hebrew  cast  of  countenance 
among  many  of  the  Ayans  ;  more  pronounced,  in  fact, 
than  I  have  ever  seen  among  savages,  and  so  much  so  as 
to  make  it  a  subject  of  constant  remark. 

Their  household  implements  were  of  the  most  primitive 
type, — such  as  spoons  of  the  horn  of  the  mountain  goat, 
very  similar  to  those  of  the  Tlinkits,  but  by  no  means  so 
well  carved  ;  and  a  few  buckets,  pans,  and  trays  of  birch- 
bark,  ingeniously  constructed  of  one  piece  so  as  not  to 
leak,  and  neatly  sewed  with  long  withes  of  trailing  roots. 
(The  finer  thread-like  spruce  roots,  well-boiled,  are,  I  be- 
lieve, generally  used  by  them  in  sewing  their  birch-bark 
canoes  and  utensils.) 

Their  present  village  was,  as  I  have  said,  evidently 
only  of  a  semi-permanent  character,  used  in  the  summer 
during  the  time  that  salmon  were  ascending  the  river  to 
spawn  ;  the  bright  red  sides  of  this  fish,  as  they  were 
hanging  around,  split  open,  forming  a  not  inartistic  con- 
trast with  the  dark  green  spruce  boughs  of  the  houses 
and  surrounding  forests;  the  artistic  effect,  however,  was 
best  appreciated  when  holding  one's  nose.     Scattered 


230 


ALONG  ALASKA'S  GREAT  RIVER. 


around  in  every  direction  was  a  horde  of  dogs  that  defied 
computation,  and  it  must  be  an  immense  drain  on  their 
commissariat  to  keep  these  animals  alive  let  alone  in  good 
condition.  The  amount  of  active  exercise  they  took, 
however,  would  not  suffice  to  reduce  them  in  flesh,  foi 
their  principal  occupation  seemed  to  be  unlimited  sleep. 


kon-it'l,  chief  of  the  ayans. 

Although  we  were  not  successful  in  getting  a  photograph 
of  the  long  group  of  dancers,  we  were  more  fortunate  with 
a  group  of  the  chiefs  and  medicine-man  "Hamlet,"  from 
which  the  i)ortrait  on  this  page,  of  Kon-it'l,  their  chief, 
is  taken.     It  was  impossible  to  get  them  to  face  the 


THROUGH  THE  UPPER  RAMPARTS.  231 

camera  at  such  short  range  until  one  of  the  members  of 
the  exploring  party  took  his  ^josition  with  them,  while 
Mr.  Homan  secured  the  photograph. 

The  Ayan  mothers,  instead  of  carrying  their  babes  on 
their  backs  with  their  faces  to  the  front,  as  is  usually 
done  by  savage  women,  unless  when  using  a  cradle,  turn 
them  around  so  as  to  have  them  back  to  back,  and  carry 
them  so  low  as  to  lit  as  it  w^ere  into  the  "  small  of  the 
back." 

Most  of  the  Ayan  men,  and  especially  the  younger 
members,  were  armed  with  bows  and  arrows,  but  there 
was  quite  a  considerable  sprinkling  of  old  flint-lock 
^udson  Bay  ComxDany  muskets  among  them,  which  they 


AYAN   MOOSE   ARROW. 


had  procured  by  trade  many  years  ago  when  Fort  Sel- 
kirk flourished,  or  by  intertribal  barter,  and  their  cost  to 
these  poor  savages  was  almost  fabulous.  The  Company' s 
manner  of  selling  a  gun  was  to  set  it  upright  on  the  floor 
of  the  trader's  store,  and  then  to  pile  up  furs  alongside 
of  it  until  they  reached  the  muzzle,  when  the  exchange 
was  made,  many  of  the  skins  being  those  of  the  black 
and  silver-gray  fox,  and  their  aggregate  value  being 
probably  three  to  four  hundred  dollars.  Their  bows  and 
arrows  were  of  the  stereotyped  Indian  make,  with  no  dis- 
tinguishing ornament  or  peculiarity  of  construction 
w^orthy  of  notice. 

The  moose  arrows  used  by  this  tribe,   shown  in  illus- 
tration on  tins  page,  have  at  the  point  the  usual  double 


232  ALONG  ALASKA'S  GREAT  RIVER. 

barb  of  common  arrows,  while  one  side  is  j)rolonged  for 
two  or  three  inches  into  a  series  of  barbs  ;  these  latter 
they  claim  have  the  effect  of  working  inward  with  the 
motions   of  the   muscles   of  the   animal  if   it  be   only- 
wounded.     Once  wounded  in  this  manner  these  sleuth- 
hounds  of  savages  will  remain  on  the  trail  of  a  moose  for 
days  if  need  be,  until  this  dreadful  weapon  has  reached 
a  vital  point,  or  so  disabled  the  animal  that  it  easily  suc- 
cumbs to  its  pursuers.     In  hunting  moose  in  the  summer 
time,  while  these  animals  are  swimming  across  the  lakes 
or  broad  streams,  I  was  told  by  one  of  my  interpreters 
w^ho  had  often  traded  among  them,  and  was  well  ac- 
quainted with  their  habits  and  customs,  that  these  Ayans 
(and  in  fact  several  tribes  below  them  on  the  river),  do 
not  hesitate  to  jump  on  the  animals'  back  in  the  lake  or 
river,  leaving  tlis  canoe  to  look  after  itself,  and  dispatch 
the  brute  with  a  hand  knife,  cutting  its  throat  or  stab- 
bing it  in  the  necls:  as  illustrated  on  page  261.  Of  course, 
a  companion  in  another  canoe  is  needed  to  assist  in  get- 
ting the  carcass  ashore,  and  secure  the  hunter's  canoe. 
They  often  attack  the  moose  in  their  canoes  while  swim- 
ming as  described  by  previous  explorers  on  the  lower 
river,   but  say  that  if  by  any  unskillful  movement  they 
should  only  wound  the  animal  it  may  turn  and  wreck 
their  vessel,  which  is  too  great  a  loss  for  them  to  risk. 
A  flying  moose  will  not  turn  in  the  water  unless  irritated 
by  wounds.     The  knives  they  use  in  hunting  are  great 
double-edged  ones,  with  flaring  ornamental  handles,  well 
illustrated  in  the  upper  left  hand  corner  of  the  picture 
mentioned.      They  tell  me  these  knives  are  of  native 
manufacture,  the  handles  being  wrapped  with  moose 
leather  so  as    to    give  the  hand  a  good  grix).     Alto- 


THROUGH  THE  UPPER  RAMPARTS. 


233 


gether,  they  are  most  villaiuous  and  piratical  looking 
things. 

Only  one  or  two  log-cabins  were  seen  anywhere  in  the 
Ayan  country,  and  these  had  the  dilapidated  air  of 
complete  and  permanent  abandonment,  although  this 
whole  district  of  the  river  is  teeming  with  timber  appro- 
priate for  such  use.  Probably  the  nomadic  and  restless 
character  of  the  inhabitants  makes  it  irksome  for  them 
to  dwell  in  such  permanent  abodes,  in  spite  of  the  great 
comfort  to  be  derived  in  their  almost  Arctic  winters  from 


CROSS-SECTION   THROUGH    ATAN   WINTER   TENT. 

such  buildings,  if  well  constructed.  The  severity  of  the 
winter  is  shown  by  the  moist  banks  of  the  river,  the 
appearance  of  which  indicates  that  they  have  been  frozen 
some  six  or  eight  feet  in  depth.  In  winter  the  Ayans 
live  mostly  in  tents,  but  by  an  ingenious  arrangement 
these  ordinarily  cold  habitations  are  made  reasonably 
comfortable.  This  winter  tent  is  shown  in  cross-section 
above,  I  being  the  interior,  and  P  P  the  tent  poles 
well  covered  with  moose  or  caribou  skins.  A  second  set 
of  poles,  p  p,  are  given  a  wider  spread,  inclosing  an  air 
space,  A  S,  a  foot  or  two  across.     These,  too,  are  cov- 


234  ALONG  ALASKA'S  GREAT  RIVER. 

ered  with  animal  skins,  and  a  thick  banking  of  snow,  ss>. 
two  or  three  feet  deep  is  thrown  over  the  outside  tent 
during  the  coldest  weather  of  winter,  making  a  sort  oi 
hybrid  between  the  Eskimo  igloo^  or  snow  hou?^,  and 
the  Indian  skin  lodge. 

Many  of  the  Ayans  were  persistent  beggars,  and  next 
morning,  the  16th  of  July,  we  got  an  early  start  before 
many  of  them  were  about,  for  as  a  tribe  they  did  not 
seem  to  be  very  early  risers. 

Nearly  directly  opposite  the  Kah-tung  village  the  per- 
pendicular  basaltic  bluffs  shown  in  the  view  at  the  mouth 
of  the  Pelly  cease  ;  and  from  this  point  on,  the  hills  of 
both  sides  of  the  river  were  higher  and  even  mountain 
ous  in  character  ;  ' '  the  upper  gates  of  the  upper  ram 
parts." 

From  this  point  on  down  through  the  ramparts  small 
black  gnats  became  annoyingly  numerous  and  pugna- 
cious, while  the  plague  of  mosquitoes  seemed  to  abate  a 
little.  The  mosquito-bars,  which  were  some  protection 
from  the  latter,  were  of  no  use  against  the  former,  the 
little  imps  sailing  right  between  the  meshes  without 
even  stopping  to  crawl  through.  Veils  with  the  very 
finest  meshes  would  be  needed  to  repulse  their  onslaughts, 
and  with  these  we  were  not  provided. 

That  day,  the  16th,  we  drifted  forty-seven  miles, 
through  a  most  picturesque  section  of  country,  our  jour- 
ney being  marred  only  by  a  number  of  recurring  and 
disagreeable  thunder  showers  that  wet  us  to  the  skin. 

Everywhere  in  conspicuous  positions  near  the  edge  of 
the  river  banks  we  saw  straggling  and  isolated  Ayan 
graves,  resembling,  in  general,  the  one  photographed  at 
Selkirk,  and  not  unlike  pretty  little  white  cottages,  when 


THROUGH  THE  UPPER  RAMPARTS.  235 

seen  from  the  distance  projected   against  tlie  somber 
green  of  the  deep  spruce  forests. 

About  thirty-four  miles  beyond  old  Selkirk  a  small 
but  conspicuous  mountain  stream  came  in  from  the 
south,  which  I  named  after  Professor  Selwyn,  of  Ottawa, 
Canada. 

The  river  was  still  full  of  islands,  however,  many  of 
which  are  covered  with  tall  spruce,  and  look  very  pic- 
turesque in  the  almost  canon- like  river-bottom,  the  steep 
mountain  sides  being  nearly  devoid  of  heavy  forests. 

In  one  of  the  many  oj)en  spaces  far  uj)  the  mountain 
side,  w^e  saw  a  huge  black  bear,  evidently  hunting  his 
daily  meal  among  the  roots  and  berries  that  there 
abound.  Although  we  passed  within  half  a  mile  of  him, 
he  took  no  more  notice  of  us  than  if  our  raft  had  been 
a  floating  chip,  and  we  did  not  disturb  his  search  with 
any  long-range  shots. 

A  little  further  down,  and  on  the  same  side  of  the 
river,  the  northern,  we  saw  three  white  mountain  goats 
on  the  very  highest  ridges  of  the  hills.  Timid  as  they 
are,  the  only  notice  they  deigned  to  give  us  was  that 
such  as  were  asleep  roused  themselves  and  stood  gazing 
at  us  until  we  had  drifted  well  past,  when  they  began 
grazing  leisurely  along  the  ridge. 

About  this  time  our  attention  was  quite  forcibly  called 
to  a  singular  xDhenomenon  while  riding  on  the  raft,  which 
was  especially  noticeable  on  quiet  sunny  days.  It  was  a 
very  pronounced  crackling  sound,  not  unlike  that  of  a 
strong  fire  running  through  dry  cedar  brush,  or  that  of  the 
first  rain  drops  of  a  thunder  storm  falling  on  the  roof  of 
a  tent.  Some  of  the  men  attributed  it  to  the  rattling  on 
the  logs  of  the  raft  of  a  shower  of  pebbles  brought  up  by 


236 


ALONG  ALASKA'S  GREAT  RIVER. 


tlie  swift  current  from  underneath,  which  would  haye 
been  a  good  enough  theory  as  far  as  the  sound  was 
concerned ;  but  soundings  in  such  places  invariably 
failed  to  touch  bottom  with  a  sixteen-foot  pole,  and, 
moreover,  when  we  were  in  shallower  and  swifter  waters, 
where  the  bottom  was  pebbly,  the  sounds  were  not 
observed.  As  the  noise  always  occurred  in  deep  water 
of  a  boiling  character,  figuratively  speaking, — or  in  that 
agitated  condition  so  common  in  deep  water  immediately 
after  a  shoal,  a  condition  wdth  which  our  experience  in 
prying  the  raft  off  shoals  had  rendered  us  familiar — I 
attempted  to  account  for  it  upon  the  theory  explained 
by  the  figure  just  below.  The  raft  x,  drifting  with  the 
arrow,  passes  from  a  shallow  to  a  deep  stretch  of  water. 
The  Yukon  River  is  a  very  swift  stream  for  its  size  (we 
drifted  that  day,  July  16,  forty-seven  and  a  half  geo- 
graphical miles  in  eleven  hours  and  fifty  minutes,  and 
even  this  rate  cannot  represent  the  swiftest  current),  and 
the  pebbles,    carried    forward    over  the   shallows  and 

reaching  the  crest  «, 
are  borne  along  by 
their  own  inertia  and 
the  superficial  current, 
and  literally  dropped 
on  a  gravel-bank  at  some  point  forw  ard,  such  as  ?>,  and, 
water  being  so  excellent  a  conductor  of  sound,  an  observer 
on  a  low  floating  craft,  during  quiet  days,  m^ight  distinctly 
hear  this  falling,  whereas  it  would  not  be  heard  if  the 
pebbles  were  simply  rolling  along  the  bottom  in  swifter 
and  noisier  w^ater.  The  suddenness  with  which  this 
crackling  commenced  and  the  gradual  manner  in  which 
it  died  out,   seem  to  confirm  this  idea.     A  series  of 


THROUGH  THE  UPPER  RAMPARTS.  237 

soundings  before  and  after  the  occurrence  of  these  single- 
lar  noises  would  have  settled  this  theory  ;  but  the  sound 
recurred  so  seldom  (say  twice,  or  perhaps  three  times,  a 
day  in  this  part  of  the  river),  that  it  was  impossible  to 
predict  it  in  time  to  put  the  theory  to  the  test,  unless 
one  kept  constantly  sounding  while  upon  the  river.  It 
was  observed  on  the  lower  river  in  a  much  less  degree, 
and  probably  might  there  have  passed  unnoticed  if 
previous  experience  had  not  recalled  it  to  our  attention. 

That  evening  we  camped  at  8  o'  clock,  after  trying  to 
conduct  our  cumbersome  vessel  to  a  pretty  little  spot  for 
the  purpose,  but  our  well-used  "  snubbing"  line  parted 
at  the  critical  moment  and  we  drifted  down  into  a  most 
miserable  position  among  the  high,  rank  willow  shoots, 
laden  with  water  from  the  recent  rains.  Towing  or 
"tracking"  our  craft  back  against  the  swift  current 
with  our  small  force  was  plainly  out  of  the  question,  and 
as  the  river  bank  seemed  of  the  same  character,  as  far  as 
we  could  see,  some  two  or  three  miles,  we  made  the  best 
of  it  and  camped,  for  we  were  getting  used  to  such 
experiences  by  this  time. 

IS'ext  morning,  about  7  o'clock,  when  we  were  nearly 
ready  to  start,  we  found  four  Ayan  Indians,  each  in  his 
birch-bark  canoe,  visiting  our  camp.  They  came  from 
the  Kah-tung  village  above,  having  left  it,  as  they  said, 
shortly  after  our  departure  on  the  preceding  day,  and  had 
camped  for  the  night  on  the  river  just  above  us.  They 
expressed  great  surprise  at  the  distance  we  had  made  by 
simple  drifting,  having  until  this  morning  felt  certain  that 
they  had  passed  us  the  day  before  around  some  one  of  the 
many  islands  in  the  broad  river.  They  were  going  down 
the  river  some  two  or  three  hundred  miles  to  a  white 


'>33  ALONG  ALASKA'S  GREAT  RIVER. 

trader's  store  of  which  they  spoke,  and  we  kept  passing 
eii.ch  other  for  the  next  three  or  four  days.  They  had 
spoken  at  the  Kah-tung  village  of  this  trading  sta- 
tion (which  we  took  to  be  Fort  Yukon),  which 
they  said  they  could  reach  in  three  days ;  kindly 
adding  that  we  might  make  the  distance  wifh  our 
craft  in  a  week  or  so.  They  now  changed  their 
minds  and  thought  we  might  only  be  a  day  or  two  behind 
them.  I  found  that  the  progress  of  the  raft,  when  care 
was  taken  to  keep  in  the  swiftest  current,  for  twelve  or 
fourteen  or  perhaj)s  sixteen  hours  a  day,  with  no  unusual 
detentions,  fully  equaled  the  average  day's  journey  of 
the  Indian  canoes,  which  remained  in  the  water  not  more 
than  six  or  seven  hours  a  day  ;  their  occupants  stopping 
to  hunt  every  animal  that  might  be  seen,  as  well  as  to 
cook  a  midday  lunch  at  their  leisure.  In  fact  my  own 
Indians,  who  had  traded  among  them,  more  than  hinted 
that  they  were  hurrying  considerably  in  order  to  go  along 
with  us  and  to  reach  the  white  trader's  store  as  a  portion 
of  our  x)arty. 

These  same  four  fellows,  when  they  met  us  on  the  morn- 
ing of  the  17th,  had  with  them  the  carcass  of  a  black 
bear,  which  they  offered  for  sale  or  barter  ;  and  on  our 
buying  one  hindquarter,  which  was  about  all  that  we 
thought  we  could  use  before  spoiling,  they  offered  us  the 
rest  as  a  gift.  We  accei)ted  the  offer  to  the  extent  of 
taking  the  other  hindquarter,  for  which  we  gave  them  a 
trifle,  whereupon  the  rest  of  the  carcass  was  left  behind 
or  thrown  away  on  the  beach,  a  circumstance  which  was 
exp>lained  to  us  by  the  fact  that  all  four  of  these  Indians 
were  medicine-men,  and  as  such  were  forbidden  by  some 
superstitious  custom  from  eating  bears'  flesh.  They  told 


THROUGH  THE  UPPER  RAMPARTS.  23fl 

US  tliat  the  animal  was  the  same  black  bear  we  had  seen 
on  the  northern  hillsides  of  the  river  the  day  before. 

The  morning  of  the  17th  and  certain  other  periods  of 
the  day  were  characterized  by  a  heavy  fog-bank,  which 
did  not  quite  reach  the  river  bottom,  but  cut  the  hill- 
sides at  an  altitude  of  from  three  hundred  to  five  hundred 
feet  above  the  level  of  the  stream.  The  fog  gave  a  dismal 
and  monotonous  aspect  to  the  landscape,  but  proved  much 
better  for  our  physical  comfort  than  the  previous  day,  with 
its  alternating  rain  and  blistering  heat.  We  found  these 
fogs  to  be  very  common  on  this  jDart  of  the  river,  being 
almost  inseparable  from  the  southern  winds  that  prevail 
at  this  time  of  the  year.  I  supj)ose  these  fogs  proceed 
from  the  moisture-laden  air  over  the  warm  Pacific  which 
is  borne  on  the  southern  winds  across  the  snow-clad  and 
glacier- crowned  mountains  of  the  Alaskan  coast  range, 
becoming  chilled  and  condensed  in  its  progress,  and 
reaching  this  part  of  the  Yukon  valley  is  precipitated  as 
rain  or  fog.  The  reason  that  we  had  escaped  the  fogs  on  the 
lakes  was  that  the  wind  came  across  tracts  of  land  to  the 
south,  and  the  hygrometric  conditions  were  different. 
A  little  further  down  the  Yukon,  but  within  the  upper 
ramparts,  we  suffered  from  almost  constant  rains  that 
beat  with  the  southern  winds  upon  our  backs. 

Shortly  after  one  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  we  floated 
by  the  mouth  of  the  White  River  flowing  from  the  south 
west,  which  has  the  local  name  of  Yu-ko-kon  Heena,  or 
Yu-ko-kon  River,  a  much  prettier  name  than  the  old  one 
of  the  Hudson  Bay  traders.  The  Chilkats  call  it  the 
Sand  River,  from  the  innumerable  bars  and  banks  of 
sand  along  its  course  ;  and  many  years  ago  they  ascended 
it  by  a  trail,  which  when  continued  leads  to  their  own 


240  ALONG  ALASKA'S  GREAT  RIVER. 

country,  but  is  now  abandoned.  Some  forty  to  lifty 
miles  up  its  valley  the  Indian  trading  trail  which,  leads 
from  the  headwaters  of  the  Tanana  to  old  Fort  Selkirk 
crosses  its  course  at  ri<^-ht  angles  ;  and  since  the  destruc- 
tion of  Fort  Selkirk  in  1851,  the  Tanana  Indians,  who 
then  made  considerable  use  of  the  trail  to  reach  the  fort 
for  trading  purposes,  employ  it  but  little  ;  and  only  then 
as  far  as  the  White  River,  whose  valley  they  descend  to 
reach  the  Yukon. 

This  stream  resembles  a  river  of  liquid  mud  of  an 
almost  white  hue,  from  which  characteristic  it  is  said  to 
have  derived  its  name  from  the  old  Hudson  Bay  traders 
— and  no  better  illustration  of  its  extreme  muddiness  can 
be  given  than  the  following  :  One  of  our  party  mistook 
a  mass  of  timber  that  had  lodged  on  the  up-stream  side 
of  a  low,  flat  mud-bar,  for  floating  wood,  and  regarded 
it  as  evidence  of  a  freshet,  a  theory  which  seemed  cor- 
roborated by  the  muddy  condition  of  the  water,  until 
the  actual  character  of  the  object  was  established  by 
closer  observation  as  we  drifted  nearer.  The  mud-bar 
and  adjacent  waters  were  so  entirely  of  the  same  color 
that  the  line  of  demarcation  was  not  readily  apparent, 
and  had  it  not  been  for  the  drift  rubbish  around  the 
former  it  might  have  escaped  our  scrutiny  even  at  our 
short  distance  from  it.  The  Indians  say  that  the  AVhite 
River  rises  in  glacier-bearing  lands,  and  that  it  is  very 
swift,  and  full  of  rapids  along  its  whole  course.  So 
swift  is  it  at  its  mouth,  that  as  it  pours  its  muddy  waters 
into  the  rapid  Yukon  it  carries  them  nearly  across  that 
clear  blue  stream  ;  the  waters  of  the  two  rivers  mingling 
almost  at  once,  and  not  running  distinct  for  miles  side 
by  side,  as  is  stated  in  one  book  on  Alaska.     From  the 


THROUGH  THE  UPPER  RAMPARTS.  241 

mouth  of  the  White  or  Yu'-ko-kon  to  Bering  Sea,  nearly 
1,500  miles,  the  Yukon  is  so  muddy  as  to  be  noticeable 
even  when  its  water  is  taken  up  in  the  palm  of  the  hand  ; 
and  all  fishing  with  hook  and  line  ceases. 

About  four  in  the  afternoon  the  mouth  of  the  Stewart 
River  was  passed,  and,  being  covered  with  islands,  might 
not  have  been  noticed  except  for  its  valley,  which  is  very 
noticeable — a  broad  valley  fenced  in  by  high  hills.  A 
visit  to  the  shore  in  our  canoe  showed  its  mouth  to  be 
deltoid  in  character,  three  mouths  being  observed,  and  • 
others  probably  existing.  Islands  were  very  numerous 
in  this  portion  of  the  Yukon,  much  more  so  than  in  any 
part  of  the  river  we  had  yet  visited,  and  as  the  raft  had 
drifted  on  while  I  went  ashore  in  the  canoe,  I  had  a  very 
hard  task  to  find  it  again  and  came  within  a  scratch  of 
losing  it,  having  passed  beyond  the  camp,  and  being 
compelled  to  return.  It  was  about  nine  o'clock  in  the 
evening  and  the  low  north-western  sun  shone  squarely  in 
our  faces,  as  we  descended  the  river,  eagerly  looking  for 
the  ascending  smoke  of  the  camp-fire,  which  had  been 
agreed  upon,  before  separation,  as  the  signal  to  be  kejDt 
going  ui;itil  we  returned.  The  setting  sun  throwing  its 
slanting  rays  upon  each  point  of  woods  that  ran  from 
the  hillsides  down  to  the  water' s  edge,  illumined  the  top 
of  them  with  a  whitish  light  until  each  one  exactly 
resembled  a  camp-fire  on  the  river  bank  with  the  feathery 
smoke  floating  ofi'  along  the  tree  tops.  Even  my  Indian 
canoeman  was  deceived  at  first,  until  half  a  dozen  ap- 
pearing together  in  sight  convinced  him  of  his  error. 
All  these  islands  were  densely  covered  with  spruce  and 
poplar,  and  the  swift  current  cutting  into  their  alluvial 
banks,  though  the  latter  were  frozen  six  or  eight  feet 


242  ALONG  ALASKA'S  GEE  AT  RIVER. 

thick,  kei^t  tlieir  edges  bristling  with  freslily-f alien  tim- 
ber ;  and  it  was  almost  courting  destruction  to  get  under 
this  abatis  of  trees  with  the  raft,  in  the  powerful  cur- 
rent, to  avoid  which  some  of  our  hardest  work  was  nec- 
essary. The  preservative  power  of  this  constantly 
frozen  ground  must  be  very  great,  as  in  many  places  we 
saw  protruding  from  the  high  banks  great  accumulations 
of  driftwood  and  logs  over  which  there  was  soil  two  and 
three  feet  thick,  which  had  been  formerly  carried  by  the 
river,  and  from  which  sprung  forests  of  spruce  timber, 
as  high  as  any  in  sight,  at  whose  feet  were  rotting  trunks 
that  must  have  been  saplings  centuries  ago.  Yet 
wherever  this  ancient  driftwood  had  been  undermined  and 
washed  of  its  dirt  and  thrown  upon  the  beach  along  with 
the  tree  but  just  fallen,  the  difference  between  the  two 
was  only  that  the  latter  still  retained  its  green  bark,  and 
its  broken  limbs  were  not  so  abraded  and  worn  ;  but 
there  seemed  to  be  no  essential  difference  in  the  fiber  of 
the  timber. 

The  evening  of  the  17th,  having  scored  forty  geo- 
graphical miles,  we  camped  on  a  low  gravel  bar,  and 
bivouacked  in  the  open  air  so  clear  and  still  was  the 
night,  although  by  morning  huge  drops  of  rain  were  fall- 
ing on  our  upturned  faces. 

On  the  18th,  shortly  after  noon,  we  passed  a  num- 
ber of  Talik-ong  Indians,  stretched  upon  the  green 
sward  of  the  right  bank  leisurely  enjoying  themselves  ; 
their  birch-bark  canoes,  sixteen  in  all,  being  pulled  up 
on  the  gravel  beach  in  front  of  them.  It  was  probably  a 
trading  or  hunting  party,  there  being  one  person  for  eacl? 
canoe,  none  of  whom  were  women.  Already  we  ob 
served  an  increase  in  the  oize  and  a  greater  cumbrousnesj 


THROUGH  THE  UPPER  RAMPARTS.  243 

in  tlie  biiiid  of  the  birch-bark  canoes,  when  compared 
with  the  fairy-like  craft  of  tlie  Ayans,  a  cliaracteristir 
that  slowly  increased  as  we  descended  the  river  until  the 
kiak.,  or  sealskin  canoe  of  the  Eskimo  is  encountered 
along  the  lower  waters  of  the  great  river.  Of  course 
this  change  of  build  reflects  no  discredit  upon  the  skill 
of  the  makers,  as  a  heavier  craft  is  required  to  navigate 


MOOSE-SKIN    MOUNTAIN,    AND     CAMP   32   AT  THE   MOUTH    OF  DEEB 

RIVER. 

the  rougher  water,  as  the  broad  stream  is  stirred  up  by 
the  persistent  southern  winds  of  the  Yukon  basin. 

About  8.30  p.  M.  we  passed  an  Indian  camjD  on  the 
left  bank,  which,  from  the  seeming  good  quality  of  their 
canvas  tents  as  viewed  from  the  river,  w^e  judged  might 
prove  to  be  a  mining  party  of  whites.  From  them  we 
learned  that  there  was  a  deserted  white  man's  store  but 


244  ALONG  ALASKA'S  GREAT  RIVER. 

a  few  miles  beyond,  but  that  the  trader  liimself,  had 
quitted  the  phice  several  months  before,  going  down  to 
salt-water,  as  they  expressed  it.  This  was  evidently  the 
same  trader  the  Ayans  expected  to  meet  at  a  little  semi- 
permanent station  of  the  Alaska  Commercial  Company 
dubbed  Fort  Reliance  ;  and  they  seemed  quite  discom- 
fited at  his  departure,  although  he  had  left  the  preced- 
ing autumn,  and  as  we  afterward  ascertained  more  from 
fear  of  the  Indians  in  his  neighborhood  than  any  other 
reason. 

We  camped  that  night  at  the  mouth  of  a  noticeable 
but  small  stream  coming  in  from  the  east,  which  we 
afterward  learned  was  called  Deer  Creek  by  the  traders, 
from  the  large  number  of  caribou  or  woodland  reindeer 
seen  in  its  valley  at  certain  times  of  their  migrations. 

At  this  point  of  its  course  the  Yukon  River  is  extremely 
narrow  in  comparison  with  the  distance  from  its  head — 
about  700  miles, — and  considering  its  previous  mean 
width,  being  here  only  two  hundred  or  two  hundred  and 
fifty  yards  across.  It  certainly  must  have  great  depth 
to  be  able  to  carry  the  immense  volume  of  water  of  so 
swift  and  wide  a  river  as  it  is  above,  for  the  current  does 
not  seem  to  increase  appreciably  in  this  narrow  channel. 

Directly  northward  in  plain  sight  is  a  prominent  land- 
mark on  this  part  of  the  river,  viz. ,  a  high  hill  called  by 
the  Indians  "the  moose-skin  mountain."  Two  ravines 
that  converge  from  its  top  again  diverge  when  about  to 
meet  about  half  way  down  the  mountain  slope,  and 
along  these  two  arms  of  an  hyperbola  there  has  been  a 
great  landslide,  laying  bare  the  dull  red  ocherous  soil 
beneath,  which  contrasts  almost  vividly  with  the  bright 
green  of  the  grass  and  foliage  of  the  mountain  flank,  and 


THROUGH  THE  UPPER  RAMPARTS.  245 

in  shape  and  color  resembles  a  gigantic  moose-skin 
stretched  out  to  dry.  That  day's  drift  gave  us  forty- 
seven  and  a  half  miles,  and  all  our  scores  were  good 
while  passing  the  ramparts,  the  delays  from  sand,  mud 
and  gravel  bars  being  very  small. 

Believing  that  I  was  now  in  close  proximity  to  the 
British  boundary,  as  shown  by  our  dead  reckoning— kept 
by  Mr.  Homan, — I  reluctantly  determined  on  giving  a 
day  (the  19th  of  July)  to  astronomical  observations, — 
reluctantly  because  every  day  was  of  vital  importance  in 
reaching  St.  Michael's,  near  the  mouth  of  the  river,  in 
time  to  reach  any  outgoing  vessels  for  the  United  States  ; 
for  if  too  late  to  catch  them,  we  should  have  to  spend  a 
dismal  and  profitless  year  at  that  place.  That  day,  how- 
ever, proved  so  tempestuous,  and  the  prospect  so  unin- 
viting, that  after  getting  a  couple  of  poor  "sights  "  for 
longitude,  I  ordered  camp  broken,  and  we  got  away 
shortly  after  eleven  o'clock. 

A  few  minutes  before  one  o'clock  we  passed  the 
abandoned  trading  station  on  the  right  bank  of  the 
river,  which  we  surmised  from  certain  maps  and  from 
subsequent  information  to  be  the  one  named  Fort 
Reliance.  It  was  a  most  dilapidated -looking  frontier 
pile  of  shanties,  consisting  of  one  main  house,  probably 
the  store,  above  ground,  and  three  or  four  cellar-like 
houses,  the  ruined  roofs  of  which  were  the  only  vestiges 
remaining  above  ground.  The  Indians  said  that  Mr. 
McQuestion,  the  trader,  had  left  on  account  of  severe 
sickness,  but  his  own  story,  when  we  met  him  afterward 
on  the  lower  river,  was  that  he  was  sick  of  the  Indians, 
the  main  tribe  of  which  were  peaceful  enough,  but  con- 
tained several  ugly  tempered  communistic  medicine-men 


246  ALONG  ALASKA'S  GREAT  RIVER. 

who  had  threatened  his  life  in  order  to  get  rid  of  his 
competition  in  the  drug  business,  which  resulted  greatly 
to  their  financial  detriment. 

Nearly  opposite  Fort  Reliance  was  the  Indian  village 
of  NoQ-klak-6,  or  Nuclaco,  numbering  about  one  hund- 
red and  fifty  people.  Our  ai)j)roach  was  welcomed  by 
a  protracted  salute  of  from  fifty  to  seventy-five  dis- 
charges of  their  old  rusty  muskets,  to  which  we  replied 
with  a  far  less  number.  Despite  the  great  value  of  pow- 
der and  other  ammunition  to  these  poor  isolated  savages, 
who  are  often  obliged  to  make  journeys  of  many  hund- 
reds of  miles  in  order  to  procure  them,  and  must  often- 
times be  in  sore  need  of  them  for  hunting  i^urposes,  they 
do  not  hesitate  in  exciting  times — and  every  visit  of  a 
stranger  causes  excitement — to  waste  their  ammunition 
in  foolish  hangings  and  silly  salutes  that  suggest  the 
vicinity  of  a  poAvder  magazine.  I  suppose  the  expendi- 
ture on  our  visit,  if  judiciously  employed  in  hunting, 
would  have  supplied  their  village  with  meat  for  probably 
a  month  ;  and  yet  we  drifted  by  with  hardly  a  response. 
This  method  of  saluting  is  very  common  along  the  river 
from  this  point  on,  and  is,  I  believe,  an  old  Russian  cus- 
tom which  has  found  its  way  thus  far  up  the  stream, 
which  is  much  beyond  where  they  had  ever  traded.  It 
is  a  custom  often  mentioned  in  descriptions  of  travel  fur- 
ther down  the  river.  The  permanent  number  of  inhab- 
itants, according  to  Mr.  McQuestion,  was  about  seventy- 
five  or  eighty  ;  and  therefore  there  must  have  been  a 
great  number  of  visitors  among  them  at  the  time  of  our 
passing.  They  seemed  very  much  disappointed  that  we 
did  not  visit  their  village,  and  the  many  who  crowded 
around  the  drifting  raft  in  their  little  fleet  of  canoes 


THROUGH  THE  UPPER  RAMPARTS.  247 

spoKe  only  of  tea  and  tobacco,  for  which  they  seemed 
ready  to  barter  their  very  souls.  Their  i:)rincixDal  diet  in 
summer  and  early  fall  is  furnished  by  the  salmon  of  the 
Yukon,  while  during  winter  and  spring,  until  the  ice 
disai)pears,  they  feed  on  the  flesh  of  moose  and  caribou. 
A  trader  on  the  upper  river  told  me  that  the  ice  of  the 
stream  is  removed  from  the  upper  ramparts  and  above 
principally  by  melting,  while  all  that  covers  the  Yukon 
below  that  part  is  washed  out  by  the  spring  rise  of  the 
river,  there  being  fully  a  month' s  difference  in  the  mat- 
ter between  the  two  districts.  Noo-klak-o' was  a  semi- 
permanent village,  but  a  most  squalid-looking  affair, — 
somewhat  resembling  the  Ayan  town,  but  with  a  much 
greater  prei^onderance  of  canvas.  Most  of  the  native 
visitors  we  saw  were  Tanana'  Indians,  and  I  was  some- 
what surprised  to  find  them  put  the  accent,  in  a  broad 
wa^^,  on  the  second  syllable,  Ta-na7i' -nee,  differing 
radically  from  the  pronunciation  of  the  same  name  by 
the  Indians  at  the  mouth  of  the  river,  and  by  most  white 
travelers  of  the  Lower  Yukon.  From  this  point  a  trail 
leads  south-westward  over  the  mountains  to  a  tributary 
of  the  Tanana,  by  means  of  which  these  Indians  visit 
Noo-klak-o.  The  19tli  was  a  most  disagreeable  day,  with 
alternating  rain  showers  and  drifting  fog,  which  had  fol« 
lowed  us  since  the  day  of  our  failure  in  securing  astro- 
nomical observations,  and  to  vary  the  discomfort,  after 
making  less  than  thirty  miles  we  stuck  so  fast  on  the 
upper  point  of  a  long  gravel  bar  that  we  had  to  carry 
our  effects  ashore  on  our  backs,  and  there  camp  with 
only  half  a  dozen  water-logged  sticks  for  a  camp-fire. 
What  in  the  world  any  musquito  wanted  to  do  out  on  that 
desert  of  a  sand-bar  in  a  cold  drifting  fog  I  could  never 


248  ALONG  ALASKA'S  GREAT  RIVER. 

imagine,  but  before  our  beds  were  fairly  made  they  put 
in  an  appearance  in  the  usual  unlimited  numbers  and 
made  sleep,  after  a  hard  day's  work,  almost  impossible. 

Starting  at  8:10  a.m.,  next  morning,  from  Camp  33,  at 
11:30  we  passed  a  good  sized  river  coming  in  from  the 
west,  which  I  named  the  Cone-Hill  River,  from  the  fact 
that  there  is  a  prominent  conical  hill  in  the  center  of  its 
broad  valley,  near  the  mouth. 

Just  beyond  the  mouth  of  the  Cone-Hill  River  we 
suddenly  came  in  sight  of  some  four  or  five  black  and 
brown  bears  in  an  open  or  untimbered  space  of  about  an 
acre  or  two  on  the  steep  hillsides  of  the  western  slope. 
The  raft  was  left  to  look  after  itself  and  we  gave  them  a 
running  volley  of  skirmish  fire  that  sent  them  scamper- 
ing up  the  steep  hill  into  the  dense  brush  and  timber, 
their  principal  loss  being  loss  of  breath.  By  not  attend- 
ing to  the  navigation  of  our  craft  in  the  excitement  of 
the  short  bear  hunt  we  ran  on  a  submerged  rock  in  a 
current  so  swift  that  we  swung  around  so  rai)idly  as 
almost  to  throw  a  number  of  us  overboard,  stuck  for  a 
couple  of  minutes  with  the  water  boiling  over  the  stern, 
and  in  general  lost  our  faith  in  the  ability  of  our  vessel 
to  navigate  itself.  In  a  previous  chapter  I  have  men- 
tioned having  been  told  by  a  person  in  southern  Alaska, 
undoubtedly  conscientious  in  his  statement,  and  having 
considerable  experience  as  a  hunter,  that  the  black  and 
brown  bear  of  his  district  never  occupied  the  same 
localities,  and  although  the  sequence  of  these  localities 
miglit  be  as  promiscuous  as  the  white  and  black  squares 
on  a  checker-board,  yet  each  species  remained  wholly  on 
his  own  color,  so  to  speak  ;  and  this  led  him  to  believe 
that  the  weaker  of  the  two,  the  black  bear,  had  good 


THROUGH  THE  UPPER  RAMPARTS.  249 

reason  to  be  afraid  of  Ms  more  powerful  neighbor.  This 
day's  observation  of  the  two  species  living  together,  in 
one  very  small  area,  shows  either  an  error  of  judgment 
on  the  part  of  the  observer  mentioned,  or  a  difference  of 
the  ursine  nature  in  different  regions. 

After  leaving  the  Stewart  River,  which  had  been  iden- 
titled  by  a  sort  of  reductio  ad  absurdum  reasoning,  I 
found  it  absolutely  impossible  to  identity  any  of  the 
other  streams  from  the  descriptions  and  maps  now  in 
existence,  even  when  aided  by  the  imperfect  information 
derived  from  the  local  tribes.  Indianne,  my  Chilkat- 
Tahk-heesh  interpreter,  got  along  very  well  among  the 
latter  tribe.  Among  the  Ayans  were  many  who  spoke 
Tahk-heesh,  with"  whom  they  traded,  and  here  we  had 
but  little  trouble.  Even  lower  down  we  managed  to  get 
along  after  a  fashion,  for  one  or  two  of  the  Ayan  medi- 
cine-men who  came  as  far  as  Fort  Reliance  with  us, 
could  occasionally  be  found,  and  they  understood  the 
lower  languages  pretty  fairly,  and  although  we  struggled 
through  four  or  five  tongues  we  could  still  make  out 
that  tea  and  tobacco  were  the  leading  topics  of  conver- 
sation everywhere.  Beyond  Fort  Reliance,  and  after 
bidding  adieu  to  our  four  Ayans,  we  were  almost  at  sea, 
but  occasionally  in  the  most  roundabout  way  we  man- 
aged to  elicit  information  of  a  limited  character. 

About  the  middle  of  the  afternoon  of  that  day,  the 
20th,  we  iloated  past  a  remarkable-looking  rock,  stand- 
ing conspicuously  in  a  flat  level  bottom  of  the  river  on 
the  eastern  side,  and  very  prominent  in  its  isolation.  I 
could  not  but  notice  the  strong  resemblance  between  it 
and  Castle  Rock  on  the  Columbia  River,  although  I 
judge  it  to  be  only  about  one-half  or  two-thirds  the  size 


250 


ALONG  ALASKA'S  GREAT  RIVER. 


of  the  latter,  but  much  more  prominent,  not  being  over- 
shadowed by  near  and  higher  mountains.  I  called  it  the 
Roquette  Rock,  in  honor  of  M.  Alex,  de  la  Roquette, 
of  the  Paris  Geographical  Society.  The  Indians  have  a 
legend  connected  with  it,  so  it  is  said,  that  the  Yukon 
River  once  flowed  along  the  distant  hills  back  of  it,  and 
that  the  rock  formed  part  of  the  bluff  seen  in  the  illus- 
tration just  below,  overlianging  the  western  shore  of 
the  river,  both  being  about  the  same  height  and  singu- 


KOCiUKTTE    KOCK. 
(As  we  approached  looking  down  the  stream.) 

larly  alike  in  other  respects.  Here  the  bluff  and  rock 
lived  many  geological  periods  in  wedded  bliss  as  man 
and  wife,  but  finally  family  dissensions  invaded  the 
rocky  household  and  culminated  in  the  stony-hearted 
husband  kicking  his  wranirliiiijr  wife  into  the  center  of 
the  distant  plain,  and  changing  the  course  of  the  great 
river  so  that  it  flowed  between  them  to  emphasize  the 
perpetual  divorce.     The  bluff  and  the  rock,  so  my  in- 


THROUGH  THE  UPPER  RAMPARTS.  251 

formant  told  me,  are  still  known  among  the  Indians  as 
"the  old  man"  and  "the  old  wife."  Despite  a  most 
disagreeable  day,  on  the  20th  we  showed  a  record  of 
forty-five  geographical  miles,  by  way  of  compensation 
for  the  dark  lowering  clouds  that  hung  over  us  like  a  pall. 
The  scenery  passed  that  day  would  have  been  i)icturesque 
enough  when  viewed  through  any  other  medium  than 
that  of  a  wretched  drizzle  of  rain.  Just  before  camp- 
ing we  saw  high  perpendicular  bluffs  of  what  appeared 
to  be  limestone,  frowning  over  us  from  the  eastern 
shore,  which  were  perforated  with  huge  caverns  that 
would  have  made  good  dens  for  bears,  but  their  situation 
was  such  that  no  bears  not  possessing  wings  could  have 
reached  them.  On  the  map  this  bluff  figures  as  Cave 
Eock. 

We  got  a  late  start  on  the  21st,  the  wretched  weather 
being  good  for  late  sleeping  if  for  nothing  else,  the  mid- 
dle of  the  forenoon  finding  us  just  pulling  out.  At 
noon  we  passed  a  good-sized  river  coming  in  from  the 
east,  but  if  it  had  been  mapped  we  were  unable  to  iden- 
tify it.  A  few  minutes  afterward  we  swung  around  a 
sharp  bend  in  the  river  and  saw  a  confused  mass  of 
brush  or  logs  that  denoted  an  Indian  village  in  the  dis- 
tance, a  supposition  confirmed  by  the  number  of  canoes 
afloat  in  its  front  and  by  a  motley  crowd  of  natives  on 
the  bank,  well  mingled  with  the  inevitable  troo})  of  dogs 
that  to  the  eye  of  the  experienced  traveler  is  as  sure  a 
sign  of  an  Indian  village  as  both  Indians  and  houses 
together.  This  was  the  first  Indian  village  we  had  en- 
countered on  the  river  deserving  the  name  of  perma- 
nent, and  even  here  the  logs  of  which  the  cabins,  six 
in  number,  were  built,  seemed  to  be  mere  poles,  and  by 


253  ALONG  ALASKA'S  GREAT  RIVER. 

no  means  as  substantially  built  as  it  might  have  been 
Avith  the  material  at  hand.  It  was  perched  up  on  a  high 
flat  bank  on  the  western  side  of  the  river,  the  gable  ends 
of  the  house  fronting  the  stream,  and  all  of  them  very- 
close  together,  there  being  only  one  or  two  places  wide 
enough  for  a  path  to  allow  the  inmates  to  pass.  The 
fronts  of  the  houses  are  nearly  on  the  same  line,  and  this 
row  is  so  close  to  the  scarp  of  the  bank  that  the  "street" 
in  front  is  a  very  narrow  path,  where  two  persons  can 
hardly  pass  unless  one  of  them  steps  indoors  or  down 
the  hill ;  and  when  I  visited  the  village  the  road  was 
so  monopolized  by  scratching  dogs  that  I  could  hardly 
force  my  way  through  them.  This  street  may  have  been 
much  wider  in  times  of  yore — for  it  seemed  to  be  quite 
an  old  village — and  the  encroachments  of  the  eroding 
river  during  freshets  may  have  reduced  it  to  its  present 
narrowness.  If  so,  it  will  not  be  long  before  the  present 
village  must  be  abandoned  or  set  back  some  distance. 
Further  up  the  river  we  saw  a  single  pole  house  pro- 
jecting over  the  bank  about  a  fourth  or  a  third  of  its 
length,  and  deserted  by  its  occupants.  The  body  of  the 
houses  is  of  a  very  inferior  construction,  in  which  ven- 
tilation seems  to  be  the  predominating  idea  (although 
even  tliis  is  not  developed  to  a  sufficient  degree,  as 
judged  by  one's  nose  upon  entering),  and  the  large  door 
in  front  is  roughly  closed  by  a  well-riddled  moose  or 
caribou  skin,  or  occasionally  by  a  piece  of  canvas  so 
dirty  that  at  the  distance  of  a  few  feet  it  might  be 
taken  for  an  animal's  skin.  The  roofs  are  of  skins 
battened  down  by  spruce  poles,  which,  projecting  beyond 
the  comb  in  irregular  lengths,  often  six  and  eight  feet, 
gave  the  whole  village  a  most  bristling  apjiearance.     A 


minpi™m:n|inni;"ji'i 


THROUGH  THE  UPPER  RAMPARTS.  255 

tire  is  built  on  the  dirt-floor,  in  the  center  of  the  hab- 
itation, and  the  smoke  left  to  get  out  the  best  way  it  can. 
As  the  occupants  are  generally  sitting  flat  on  the  floor, 
or  stretched  out  at  full  length  on  their  backs  or  stom- 
achs in  the  dirt,  they  are  in  a  stratum  of  air  compara- 
tively clear;  or,  at  least,  endurable  to  Indian  lungs. 
The  ascending  smoke  finds  ample  air-holes  among  the 
upper  cracks  of  the  walls,  while  that  dense  mass  of  it 
which  is  retained  under  the  skins  of  the  roof,  making  it 
almost  impossible  to  stand  upright,  is  utilized  for  smok- 
ing the  salmon  which  are  hung  up  in  this  space.  The 
Indian  name  of  the  village  is  Klat-ol-klin',  but  it  is  gen- 
erally known  on  the  Middle  River  as  Johnny's  Village, 
after  the  chiefs  Americanized  name.  That  dignitary 
was  absent  on  a  journey  of  several  days  down  the  river, 
at  the  time  of  our  arrival. 

A  number  of  long  leaning  poles,  braced  on  their  down- 
hill ends  by  cross  uprights,  were  noticed  on  the  gravel 
beach  in  front  of  the  village  ;  these  serve  as  scaffoldings 
upon  which  to  dry  salmon  in  the  sun,  and  to  keep  them 
from  the  many  dogs  while  undergoing  this  process. 
While  taking  a  photograph  of  the  town,  two  or  three 
salmon  fell  from  the  poles  ;  and  in  a  twinkling  fully 
sixty  or  seventy  dogs  were  huddled  together  about  them 
in  a  writhing  mass,  each  one  trying  to  get  his  share, — and 
that  of  several  others.  The  camera  was  sighted  toward 
them,  a  hurried  guess  made  as  to  the  proper  focus,  and 
an  instantaneous  view  attempted,  but  the  negative  looked 
more  like  a  representation  of  an  approaching  thunder 
shower,  and  I  never  afterward  printed  from  it.  Occasion- 
ally in  these  rushes  a  row  of  scaffolding  will  be  knocked 
down,  and  if  it  happens  to  be  loaded  with  salmon  the 


25G  ALONG  ALASKA'S  GREAT  RIVER. 

consequent  feast  will  be  of  a  more  extensive  nature. 
Theee  dogs  were  of  a  smaller  breed,  and  noticeably  of  a 
darker  color,  than  the  Eskimo  dogs  of  the  lower  river. 
They  are  employed  by  these  Indians  for  the  same  pur- 
l^oses,  but  to  a  more  limited  extent. 

It  was  at  this  village  that  what  to  me  was  the  most 
wonderful  and  striking  performance  given  by  any  natives 
we  encountered  on  the  whole  tri^D  was  displayed.  I  refer 
to  their  method  of  lishing  for  salmon.  I  have  already 
spoken  of  the  extreme  muddiness  of  the  Yukon  below 
the  month  of  the  White  River ;  and  this  spot,  of  course, 
is  no  excej)tion.  I  believe  I  do  not  exaggerate  in  the  least 
when  I  say,  that,  if  an  ordinary  pint  tin-cup  were  lilled 
with  it,  nothing  could  be  seen  at  the  bottom  until  the  sed- 
iment had  settled.  The  water  is  about  nine  or  ten  feet 
deej:)  on  the  fishing  banks  in  front  of  the  houses,  where 
they  fish  with  their  nets  ;  or  at  least  that  is  about  the 
length  of  the  poles  to  which  the  nets  are  attached.  The 
salmon  I  saw  them  take  were  caught  about  two  hundred 
or  two  hundred  and  fifty  yards  directly  out  from  the  shore 
in  front  of  the  houses.  Standing  in  front  of  this  row  of 
cabins,  some  person,  generally  an  old  man,  squaw  or 
child,  possibly  on  duty  for  that  purpose,  would  an- 
nounce, in  a  loud  voice,  that  a  salmon  was  coming  up  the 
river,  perhaps  from  a  quarter  to  a  third  of  a  mile  away. 
This  news  would  stir  up  some  young  man  from  the 
cabins,  who  fronj  his  elevated  position  in  front  of  them 
would  identify  the  salmon's  position,  and  then  run  down 
to  the  beach,  pick  up  his  canoe,  paddle  and  net,  launch 
the  former  and  start  rapidly  out  into  the  river  ;  the  net 
lying  on  the  canoe's  birch  deck  in  front  of  him,  his 
movements  being  guided  by  his  otnti  sight  and  that  of  a 


THROUGH  THE  UPPER  RAMPARTS.  257 

half  dozen  others  on  the  high  bank,  all  shouting  advice  to 
him  at  the  same  time.  Evidently,  in  the  canoe  he  could 
not  judge  well  of  the  fish's  position,  esjpecially  at  a  dis- 
tance ;  for  he  seemed  to  rely  on  the  advice  from  the 
shore  to  direct  his  movements  until  the  fish  was  near 
him,  when  with  two  or  three  dexterous  and  powerful 
strokes  with  both  hands,  he  shot  the  little  canoe  to  a 
point  near  the  position  he  wished  to  take  up,  regulating 
its  finer  movements  by  the  paddle  used  as  a  sculling 
oar  in  his  left  hand,  while  with  his  right  he  grasped 
the  net  at  the  end  of  its  handle  and  plunged  it  into 
the  water  the  whole  length  of  its  pole  to  the  bot- 
tom of  the  river  (some  nine  or  ten  feet) ;  often  lean- 
ing far  over  and  thrusting  the  arm  deep  into  the 
water,  so  as  to  adjust  the  mouth  of  the  net,  covering 
about  two  square  feet,  directly  over  the  course  of  the 
salmon  so  as  to  entrap  him.  Of  seven  attempts,  at 
intervals  covering  three  hours,  two  were  successful  (and 
in  two  others  salmon  were  caught  but  escaped  while  the 
nets  were  being  raised),  salmon  being  taken  that  weighed 
from  fifteen  to  twenty  pounds.  How  these  Indians  can 
see  at  this  distance  the  coming  of  a  single  salmon  along 
the  bottom  of  a  river  eight  or  ten  feet  deep,  and  deter- 
mine their  course  or  position  near  enough  to  catch  them 
in  the  narrow  mouth  of  a  small  net,  when  immediately 
under  the  eye  a  vessel  holding  that  number  of  inches  of 
water  from  the  muddy  river  completely  obscures  an  ob- 
ject at  its  bottom,  is  a  problem  that  I  will  not  attempt  to 
solve.  Their  success  depends  of  course  in  some  way  on 
the  motion  of  the  fish.  In  vain  they  attempted  to  show 
members  of  my  party  the  coming  fish.  I  feel  perfectly 
satisfied  that  none  of  the  white  men  could  see  the  slight- 


^58  ALONG  ALASKA'S  GREAT  RIVER. 

est  trace  of  the  movements  to  which  their  jittenticn  was 
called.  Under  the  skin  roofs  of  their  log-cabins  and  on 
the  scaffoldings  upon  the  gravel  beach  were  many  hund- 
red salmon  that  had  been  caught  in  this  curious  way. 
The  only  plausible  theory  which  I  could  evolve  within 
the  limits  of  the  non-marvelous,  was,  that  the  salmon 
came  along  near  the  toj)  of  the  water,  so  as  to  show  or 
indicate  the  dorsal  fin,  and  that  as  it  approached  the 
canoe,  the  sight  of  it,  or  more  likely  some  slight  noise, 
made  with  that  intention,  drove  the  fish  to  the  bottom 
without  any  considerable  lateral  deviation,  whereupon 
they  were  inclosed  by  the  net.  But  my  interpreters  told 
me  (and  I  think  their  interpretation  was  correct  in  this 
case,  roundabout  as  it  was),  that  this  superficial  swim- 
ming did  not  take  place,  but  that  the  motion  of  the  fish 
was  communicated  from  the  deep  water  to  the  surface, 
often  when  the  fish  was  quite  at  the  bottom. 

The  nets  used  have  already  been  partially  described. 
The  mouth  is  held  open  by  a  light  wooden  frame  of  a 

reniform  shape,  as  shown  in  the 
figure  on  this  page,  and  as  one 
may  readily  see,  this  is  of  great 
advantage  in  securing  the  handle 
firmly  by  side  braces  to  the  rim 
of  the  net's  mouth  as  shown,  that 
being  undoubtedly  the  object 
KLAT-oL  Ki.iN  FisiiiNo  NETS.       sought.     Furtlier  down  the  rivei 

Scale,  1-30.  ■,.,-, 

(that  IS,  m  the  "lower  ram- 
parts"), the  reniform  rim  becomes  circular:  thus  ol 
course  increasing  the  chances  of  catching  the  fish  ;  all 
the  other  dimensions,  too,  are  greatly  increased.  Wlien 
the  salmon  is  netted,  a  turn  is  immediately  given  to  tha 


THROUGH  THE  UPPER  RAMPARTS.  25<) 

handle,  thus  effectually  trapping  the  fish  below  the 
mouth  of  the  net,  and  upon  the  dexterity  thus  displayed 
no  little  of  the  fisherman's  success  depends.  Two  sal- 
mon were  lost  upon  this  occasion  after  they  had  actually 
passed  into  the  net,  owing  to  lack  of  agility  in  this  opera 
tion.     When    fully  entrapped 

and  brought  alongside,  a  fish-     t_        __  /     "~^^^ 

club,  as  shown,  is  used  to  kill  L=^5=^;_4 

SALMON-KILLING  CLUB. 

the  salmon  immediately  by  a 

hard  blow  over  the  head,  for  the  struggles  of  so  large 

a  fish  might  easily  upset  a  frail  canoe. 

Up  to  this  time  the  birch-bark  canoes  on  the  river  had 
been  so  fragile  and  "  cranky  "  that  my  Chilkat  Indians, 
who  were  used  to  the  heavy  wooden  canoes  of  their  coun- 
try, felt  unsafe  in  employing  them  for  all  purposes,  but 
these  were  so  much  larger  and  stronger  in  build,  and  our 
old  Tahk-heesh  "dug-out"  so  thoroughly  worthless, 
that  we  felt  safe  in  buying  one  at  this  village,  but  for  a 
number  of  days  "Billy"  and  "Indianne"  paddled  very 
gingerly  when  making  excursions  in  it. 

A  few  Hudson  Bay  toboggan  sledges  were  seen  on 
scaffolds  at  and  near  the  village  ;  they  seem  to  be  the 
principal  sledges  of  this  part  of  the  country.  The  snow 
shoes  of  this  tribe  differed  from  those  of  the  Chilkats  by 
trifling  modifications  only,  being  a  sort  of  compromise 
between  the  hunting  and  packing  snow  shoes  of  the 
latter. 

About  a  mile  or  a  mile  and  a  quarter  below  Klat-ol- 
klin',  and  on  the  same  side  of  the  river,  is  a  fairly  con- 
structed white  man' s  log  cabin,  which  had  once  been  used 
as  a  trading  store,  but  was  now  deserted.  We  afterward 
learned  that  this  trading  station  was  called  Belle  Isle, 


260  ALONG  ALASKA' J3  GREAT  RIVER. 

aad  liau  only  been  built  twc  years  before,  having  teen 
abandoned  the  preceding  year  as  not  paying.  The  In- 
dians evidently  must  have  surmised  that  the  trader 
would  return,  as  they  respected  the  condition  in  which 
he  left  the  building,  in  a  manner  most  creditable  to  their 
honesty,  no  one  having  entered  or  disturbed  it  since  he 
left.  They  evidently  care  very  little  for  beads  as  orna- 
ments, for  1  saw  none  of  them  wearing  that  much  cov- 
eted Indian  adornment,  while  great  quantities  were 
scattered  around  by  the  trader's  store,  having  been 
trampled  into  the  ground.  At  no  place  on  the  river  did 
I  find  such  an  eagerness  for  beads  as  characterizes  the 
American  Indians  of  milder  climes,  but  nowhere  did  I 
see  such  total  disregard  for  them  as  was  shown  here. 

Near  Belle  Isle  is  a  prominent  hill  called  by  the  In- 
dians Ta-tot'-lee^  its  conspicuousness  heightened  by  the 
comparative  flatness  of  the  country  which  lies  between 
two  entering  rivers  and  a  great  bend  of  the  Yukon.  As  our 
survey  showed  it  to  be  just  within  Alaska,  bordering  on 
the  boundary  between  it  and  the  British  Northwest  Terri- 
tory, I  gave  it  the  additional  name  of  Boundary  Butte. 

The  country  was  now  noticeably  more  open,  and  it  was 
evident  that  we  had  already  passed  the  most  mountainous 
portion  of  the  chain,  the  intersection  of  which  by  the 
river  forms  the  upper  ramparts. 

The  next  day  w^e  made  thirty- six  miles,  and  as  the 
wliole  day  had  been  a  most  disagreeable  one  when  at  six 
o'clock  we  got  drawn  into  an  eddy,  near  which  w^as 
a  fair  place  to  camp,  I  ordered  the  raft  made  fast  and  the 
tents  pitched. 

Tliat  day — the  22d — while  under  way,  we  saw  a  large 
dead  king-salmon,  floating  belly  iii)wards  with  the  cur- 


THROUGH  THE  UPPER  RAMPARTiS. 


261 


..  :nt,  and  we  kept  near  it  for  some  time.  This  spectl  lie 
became  more  familiar  as  we  descended,  while  everywhere 
we  met  with  the  rough  coarse  dog-salmon  strewn  upon 
the  beach,  frequently  in  such  numbers,  and  tainting  the 
air  so  strongly  w>h  the  odor  of  their  decay,  that  an 
otherwise  good  cauip  would  be  spoiled  by  their  presence 


MOUNT   TA-TOT'-LEE,  OR   BOUNDAKT   BUTTE. 
(Also  showing  MidJie  Yukon  River  Indians'  methods  of  killing  swimming  moose,  i 

The  river  rose  ten  inches  that  night — a  fact  easily 
accounted  for  by  the  protracted  and  often  heavy  rains. 
The  forenoon  of  the  23d  was  very  gloomy,  but  shortly 
aftei  noon  the  weather  surprised  us  by  clearing  up. 


262  ALONG  ALASKA'S  GREAT  RIVER. 

At  3:30  that  day  we  came  upon  anotlier  Indian  town 
called  Charley's  Village  ;  but  the  current  was  so  swift 
that  we  could  not  get  the  raft  up  to  the  bank  so  as  to 
camp  alongside,  but  we  were  successful  in  making  a 
sand-bar  about  half  a  mile  below.  Charley's  A^illage  was 
an  exact  counterpart  of  Johnny's,  even  as  to  the  number 
of  houses — six — and  the  side  of  the  river — the  western  ; 
and  considering  this  and  the  trouble  to  reach  it,  I  did  not 
attempt  to  photograxDh  it.  When  attempting  to  reach  it 
with  the  raft,  so  anxious  were  the  Indians  for  our  success, 
tliat  as  many  as  could  do  so  put  the  bows  of  their  canoes 
on  the  outer  log  of  the  raft,  and  paddled  forward  with 
as  much  vehemence  as  if  their  very  lives  depended  uiDon 
the  result.  In  three  or  four  minutes  they  had  worked 
themselves  into  a  streaming  perspiration,  and  had 
probably  shoved  the  huge  raft  as  many  inches  toward 
the  bank.  We  found  a  Canadian  voyageur  among  them 
of  the  name  of  Jo.  Ladue,  who,  as  a  partner  of  one  of  the 
traders  on  the  lower  river,  had  drifted  here  in  prospecting 
the  stream  for  precious  mineral.  ' '  Jo, ' '  as  he  is  familiarly 
known,  speaks  of  the  natives  of  both  these  vi] luges  as 
Tadoosh,  and  says  they  are  the  best-natured  Indfa^ns  from 
here  till  the  Eskimo  are  met  with.  Ladue  had  a  fairly- 
made  scow  over  twenty  feet  long,  about  half  a  dozen 
wide,  and  three  deep,  which  he  wanted  to  hire  us,  but 
as  it  would  not  hold  all  the  party  and  effects  we  had  to 
decline  the  tender,  despite  his  emphatic  assurances  that 
we  could  not  safely  go  much  further  with  our  raft.  It 
was  with  Ladue  that  I  first  noticed  particularly  the  pro- 
nunciation of  the  name  of  the  great  river,  on  whose  waters 
we  were  di'ifting,  a  pronunciation  which  is  universal 
among  the  few  whites  along  its  borders,  and  that  sounded 


THROUGH  THE  UPPER  RAMPARTS.  263 

strangely  at  first ;  that  is  with  the  accent  on  the  first 
syllable,  and  not  on  the  second,  as  I  had  so  usually  heard 
it  pronounced  in  the  United  States.  That  night,  the  23d, 
the  mosquitoes  were  perfectly  unbearable  in  their 
assaults,  and  if  the  weather  had  not  turned  bitterly  cold 
toward  morning  I  doubt  if  we  could  have  obtained  any 
sleep  at  all,  for  the  mosquito-bars  seemed  to  be  no  pro- 
tection whatever. 

I  think  I  established  one  mosquito  theory  of  a  practical 
bearing,  on  a  pretty  firm  basis,  while  upon  this  trip  ' '  in 
the  land  of  the  mosquito's  paradise  ;"  and  that  was,  if 
the  insects  are  so  tkl^l*  that"  they  constantly  touch  each 
other  Oi.  ^he  mosquito-bar  when  crawling  over  it,  it  will 
be  no  protev^tion  whatever,  if  the  meshes  are  of  the  usual 
size,  and  they  will  come  in  so  fast  that  comfort  is  out  of 
the  question,  but  otherwise  there  is  some  chance  which 
increases  as  their  numbers  diminish.  Even  if  there  are 
two  or  three  to  the  square  inch  of  your  bar  of  many 
square  yards,  it  surprises  you  how  few  get  through,  but 
the  minute  they  begin  crawling  over  each  other  they 
seem  to  become  furious,  and  make  efforts  to  squeeze 
through  the  meshes  which  are  often  rewarded  with  suc- 
cess, until  a  sharp  slap  on  the  face  sounds  their  death 
knell.  The  doctor,  in  a  fit  o^  axasperation,  said  he 
believed  that  two  of  them  would  hold  the  legs  and  wings 
of  another  flat  against  its  body,  while  a  third  shoved  it 
through ;  biit  I  doubt  the  existence  of  co-oi:)eration 
among  them.  I  think  they  are  too  mean  to  help  one 
another. 


CHAPTER  X. 


THROUGn  THE  YUKON  FLAT-LANDS. 


AFTER  passing 
Johnny's  village  in 
descending  the 
stream,  and  more 
perceptibly  after 
leaving  Charley  s  vil- 
lage, the  country 
ox^ens  rai^idly,  and 
another  day's  drift 
of  forty-tAvo  and  a 
half  geographical 
miles  brought  us  to 
what  an  old  trader 
on  the  lower  river  calls  the  "Yukon  flat-lands,"  an 
expression  so  appropriate  that  I  have  adopted  it, 
although  I  have  never  heard  any  other  authority  for 
its  use. 

While  descending  the  stream  on  the  24th,  late  in  the 
forenoon,  we  saw  a  large  buck  moose  swim  from  one  of 
the  many  islands  to  the  mainland  just  back  of  us,  having 
probably,  as  the  hunter  would  say,  ''gotten  our  scent.'' 
I  never  comprehended  what  immense  noses  these  animals 
have  until  I  got  a  good  profile  view  of  this  big  fellow, 
and  although  over  half  a  mile  away,  his  nose  looked  as 
if  he  had  been  rooting  the  island  and  was  trying  to  carry 


THROUGH  THE  YUKON  FLAT-LANDS.  265 

away  the  greater  part  of  it  on  the  end  of  his  snout.  The 
great  palmated  horns  above,  the  broad  "throat-latch" 
before,  combined  with  the  huge  nose  and  powerful 
shoulders,  make  one  think  that  this  animal  might  tilt 
forward  on  his  head  from  sheer  gravity,  so  little  is 
there  ajDparently  at  the  other  end  to  counterbalance 
these  masses.  When  the  Russians  were  on  the  lower 
river  these  moose-noses  were  dried  by  them  and  con- 
sidered great  delicacies.  A  few  winters  ago  the  cold  was 
so  intense,  and  the  snow  covered  the  ground  for  so  great 
a  depth  throughout  the  season,  that  sad  havoc  was 
played  with  the  unfortunate  animals,  and  a  moose  is  now 
a  rare  sight  below  the  upi^er  ramparts  of  the  river,  as  I 
was  informed  by  the  traders  of  that  district.  It  is  cer- 
tainly to  be  hoped  that  the  destruction  has  only  been 
I)artial,  so  that  this  noble  game  may  again  flourish  in  its 
home,  where  it  will  be  secure  from  the  inroads  of  fire- 
arms  for  many  decades  to  come.  Not  long  since  the 
little  river  steamer  that  plies  on  this  stream  for  trading 
purposes,  owned  by  the  Alaska  Commercial  Company, 
could  hardly  make  a  voyage  to  old  Fort  Yukon  and 
back  without  encountering  a  few  herds  of  these  animals 
swimming  across  the  stream,  and  exciting  were  the 
bouts  with  them,  often  ending  in  a  victory  for  the 
moose  with  the  ' '  Yukon ' '  run  aground  on  a  bar  of  sand 
or  gravel ;  but  for  some  years  not  an  animal  has  been 
seen  by  them.  Formerly  the  meat  they  secured  in  this 
way,  with  what  they  procured  from  the  Indians  along 
the  river,  assured  them  of  fresh  food  during  the  month 
or  so  they  were  absent  from  St.  Michael's  ;  but  their 
entire  dependence  for  this  kind  of  fare  has  been  thrown 
upon  the  salmon  furnished  by  the  natives,   which  is 


266  ALONG  ALASKA'S  GREAT  RIVER. 

miicli  more  difRciilt  to  keej)  fresh  during  the  short  hot 
summer  of  the  river. 

This  river  steamer,  the  "Yukon,"  was  daily  expected 
by  "Jo"  Ladue,  and  uj^on  it  he  intended  to  return  to 
Nuklakayet,  his  winter  station.  I  also  hoped  to  fall  in 
with  it  during  the  next  week,  as  our  civilized  provisions 
were  at  a  very  low  ebb  and  I  wished  to  replenish  them. 
During  a  great  part  of  our  drift  on  the  24th,  we  were 
accompanied  by  Jo  and  his  three  Indian  allies,  in  their 
scow,  who  said  they  would  keep  us  company  until  we 
met  the  "Yukon"  steamer.  While  we  were  leisurely 
floating  along,  "Jo"  saw  a  "short  cut"  in  the  river's 
bend,  into  which  we  could  not  row  our  ponderous  craft, 
and  down  this  he  quickly  disappeared,  remarking  that  he 
would  pick  out  a  good  camping  i^lace  for  us  for  the  night. 

Although  we  were  well  out  of  the  high  mountainous 
country,  we  could  see  the  chain  through  which  we  had 
passed  still  bearing  oif  to  the  left,  the  summits  in  many 
places  covered  with  snow,  long  fingers  of  which  extended 
down  such  mountain  gullies  as  had  a  northern  exposure. 
As  we  emerged  from  the  hilly  country  the  soil,  for  the  first 
time,  seemed  to  be  thick  and  black  wherever  it  was 
exposed  to  our  eye  by  the  caving  in  of  the  banks  ;  and 
grass,  always  good,  now  became  really  luxuriant  for  any 
climate.  In  many  places  we  saw  grass  ready  to  mow,  were 
it  not  for  the  fact  that  even  the  largest  jDrairies  have  an 
undergrowth  of  stunted  brush  which  one  might  not 
observe  at  a  distance  in  the  high  grass,  but  which  is  very 
perceptible  in  walking  through  it.  The  greatest  obstacle 
to  cattle  raising  in  the  Yukon  valley  would  be  the  dense 
swarms  of  mosquitoes,  although  I  understand  that  a 
couple  of  head  of  cattle  were  kept  at  old  Fort  Yukon  for 


THROUGH  THE  YUKON  FLAT-LANDS. 


267 


one  or  two  summers.  By  burning  off  all  timber  and 
brush  from  large  districts  and  a  little  judicious  drainage 
it  might  be  j)ossible  to  encourage  this  industry  with  the 
hardier  breeds  of  cattle,  but  at  present  the  case  is  too 
remote  to  sj)eculate  upon. 

I  now  remarked  in  many  places  along  the  flat  river-bot- 
toms— which  had  high  banks,  however — that  the  ground 
was  covered,  especially  in  little  ojDen  prairies,  with  a  tough 
sponge-like  moss  or  peat.  If  the  bank  was  at  all  gravelly, 
so  as  to  give  good  drainage,  and  to  allow  of  the  river 
excavating  it  gradually,  as  is  usual  in  temperate 
climes,  this  thick  moss  was  so  interwoven  and  com- 
pacted that  it  would  not  break  or  separate  in  falling 
with  the  river  banks,  but  remained  attached  to  the  crest, 
forming  great  blankets  of  moss  that  overhung  the  shores 
a  foot  thick,  as  I  have  endeavored  to  represent  on  this 
page,  a.  h.  representing  the  moss.  Some 
of  these  banks  were  from  fifteen  to 
eighteen  feet  in  height,  and  this  over- 
hanging moss  would  even 

then   reach  to   the   water,     

keeping  the  shores  neatly  ^^'^^^  on  tukon  biyeb. 

sodded  to  the  waters  edge  on  the  inclined  banks,  and 
hanging  perpendicularly  from  those  that  projected  over. 
Great  jagged  rents  and  patches  were  torn  out  of  the 
hem  of  this  carpet  by  the  limbs  and  roots  of  drifting 
logs,  thus  destroying  its  i)icturesque  uniformity.  I 
suppose  the  reason  why  it  was  more  noticeable  in  open 
spaces  was  that  the  trees  and  underbrush,  and  especially 
their  roots,  would,  from  the  effect  of  undermining,  carry 
the  moss  into  the  water  with  their  heavy  weight  as  they 
fell. 


268  ALONG  ALASKA'S  GREAT  RIVER. 

At  half -past  five  o'clock  we  sighted  a  steamer  down 
the  river  which  we  thought  might  be  the  Alaska  Com- 
mercial Company's  "  Yukon  "  coming  uj)  around  a  low 
island  of  sand,  but  it  proved  to  be  a  beached  boat  called 
the  St.  Michael's,  lying  high  and  dry,  about  ten  or  twelve 
feet  above  the  present  water  level,  on  a  long,  low  island 
of  sand  and  gravel. 

Some  years  before,  a  rival  corporation  to  the  Alaska 
Company,  called,  I  believe.  The  Northern  Trading  Com- 
])any,  tried  to  establish  itself  on  the  Yukon  Eiver,  (and 
elsewhere  in  Alaska,  but  the  Yukon  district  only  con- 
cerns us  here),  and  trading  houses  were  built  in  many 
places  along  the  stream,  most  of  them  within  a  short 
distance,  perhaps  a  mile  or  two,  of  those  established  by 
the  Alaska  Commercial  Com]oany.  Fierce  competition 
ensued,  and  I  was  told  that  the  Indians  got  goods  at 
wholesale  prices  in  San  Francisco,  ^.  e.,  at  almost  infini- 
tesimal prices  comj)ared  with  those  they  were  accus- 
tomed to  pay.  The  Alaska  Company  was  finally  victori- 
ous, but  found  matters  considerably  changed  when  the 
struggle  was  over.  When  they  attempted  to  restore  the 
prices  of  the  old  regime,  and  to  ask  immediate  payment 
• — for  both  companies  had  given  the  Indians  unlimited 
credit — such  a  hornet's  nest  was  stirred  up  that  ulti- 
mately the  company  was  obliged  to  abandon  nearlj^  a 
half-dozen  posts,  all  above  Nuklakayet,  for  fear  of  the 
Indians,  who  required  a  Krupp  steam-hammer  to  pound 
into  their  thick  heads  the  reason  w^hy  a  man  might  sell 
them  a  pound  of  tobacco  for  ten  cents  to-day  and  to-mor- 
row charge  them  ten  dollars  an  ounce  ;  especialh^  when 
they  have  to  pay  for  the  latter  from  the  products  of  the 
trap,  and  the  former  is  put  down  in  the  account  book  in 


THROUGH  THE  YUKON  FLAT-LANDS.  269 

an  accommodating  way.  The  Northern  Trading  Com- 
pany also  put  on  the  Yukon  River  this  boat,  the  St. 
Michael's,  a  clumsily-built  stern- wheeler  that  had  win- 
tered at  Belle  Isle,  and  on  going  down  with  the  spring 
freshet  had  struck  this  bar,  then  under  water,  and  as  the 
river  was  falling  she  was  soon  left  high  in  the  air. 

We  camped  for  the  night  on  the  same  bar,  which  I 
called  St.  Michael's  Island,  and  about  an  hour  afterward 
"Jo"  and  his  scow  came  along  and  pulled  nj)  to  camp 
on  the  opposite  shore.  He  explained  his  delay — for  1 
really  thought  he  had  i)assed  us  and  was  camping  further 
down — by  saying  that  he  and  his  Indians  had  been  hunt- 
ing, and  he  produced  two  or  three  ducks,  in  the  very 
prime  of  their  toughness,  as  corroborative  testimony,  but 
I  surmised  that  the  true  story  was  that  ' '  ail  hands  and 
the  cook ' '  had  gone  to  sleep,  whereupon  the  scow  had 
likewise  rested  on  the  soft  bottom  of  some  friendly  sand- 
spit.  The  remainder  of  the  journey  confirmed  this  sus- 
picion. 

Starting  from  Camp  No.  38,  on  St.  Michael's  Island, 
the  river,  as  the  map  shows,  becomes  one  vast  and  wide 
net-work  of  islands,  the  whole  country  being  as  level  as 
the  great  plains  of  the  West,  and  we  were  fairly  launched 
into  the  "  Yukon  flat-lands."  As  we  entered  this  floor- 
like country  our  Chilkat  Indians  seemed  seriously  to 
think  that  we  had  arrived  at  the  river's  mouth  and  were 
now  going  out  to  sea  ;  and  I  can  readily  imagine  that  even 
a  white  i^erson,  having  no  knowledge  of  the  country, 
might  well  think  so.  There  was  an  almost  irresistible  im- 
pression that  beyond  the  low  flat  islands  in  front  one 
must  come  in  sight  of  the  ocean. 

As  we  started  out  into  this  broad,  level  tract,  the 


270  ALONG  ALASKA'S  GREAT  RIVER. 

mountains  to  the  left,  or  west,  still  continued  in  a  bro- 
ken range  that  was  thrown  back  at  an  angie  from  the 
river's  general  course,  and  projected  into  a  sort  of  ^pur 
formed  of  a  series  of  isolated  peaks,  rising  squarely  out 
of  the  flat  land,  and  diminishing  in  size  until  they  dis- 
appeared toward  the  north-west  in  a  few  sharp-x)ointed 
hillocks  just  visible  over  the  high  spruce  trees  of  the 
islands.  I  called  them  the  Ratzel  range,  or  peaks,  after 
Professor  Frederick  Ratzel,  of  Munich. 

This  flat  character  of  the  country  continues  for  about 
three  hundred  miles  further,  and  tlie  river,  unconflned 
by  resisting  banks,  cuts  numerous  Avide  channels  in  the 
soft  alluvial  shores,  dividing  and  subdividing  and  spread- 
ing, until  its  width  is  simply  beyond  reasonable  estima- 
tion. At  Fort  Yukon,  about  a  thousand  miles  from  the 
mouth,  its  width  has  been  closely  estimated  at  seven  miles, 
and  at  other  points  above  and  below  it  is  believed  to  be 
twice  or  thrice  that  width.  This  breadth  is  measured 
from  the  right  bank  to  the  left  across  shallow  chan- 
nels and  flat  islands,  whose  ratio  to  each  other  is,  on  the 
whole,  tolerably  equal.  Some  of  these  islands  are 
merely  wide  wastes,  consisting  of  low  stretches  of  sand 
and  gravel,  with  desolate-looking  ridges  of  whitened 
drift-timber,  all  of  which  must  be  under  water  in  the 
spring  floods,  when  the  river  in  this  region  must  resem- 
ble a  great  inland  sea.  In  no  place  does  this  wide  con- 
geries of  channels  seem  to  abate  its  former  swiftness  a 
single  jot,  but  the  constant  dividing  and  subdividing 
occasionally  brought  us  to  lanes  so  narrow  and  shallow 
that  it  seemed  as  though  we  could  not  get  through  with 
our  raft,  and  more  than  once  we  feared  we  should  have 
to  abandon  our  old  companion.     For  nearly  three  weeks 


THROUGH  THE  YUKON  FLAT-LANDS.  271 

we  were  drifting  tliroiigli  these  terribly  monotonous  flat- 
lands,  never  knowing  at  night  whether  or  not  we  were 
camping  on  the  main  bank,  and  by  far  the  most  fre- 
quently camping  on  some  island  with  nothing  but  islands 
in  sight  as  far  as  the  eye  could  see. 

On  the  25th  we  got  under  way  quite  early,  and  at  8:30 
A.  M.  passed  an  Indian  encamx3ment  of  four  very  fine- 
looking  tents,  situated  on  an  island,  and  here  "Jo" 
Ladue  told  us  he  would  stop  and  await  the  arrival  of  the 
Alaska  Company's  new  steamer.  I  had  suspicions  that 
"Jo"  did  not  like  the  pace  we  kept  up,  or  rather  that 
he  did  not  relish  being  awakened  whenever  his  scow 
sought  the  quiet  of  an  island  shore. 

But  a  few  minutes  afterward  there  was  a  junction  of 
several  channels  of  the  river,  and  we  floated  out  into  the 
lake-like  expanse  ahead  with  a  vague  feeling  that  so 
much  water  could  hardly  joossess  any  current,  but  never- 
theless we  sped  along  at  our  old  pace.  This  sheet  of 
water  was  wider  than  the  majority  of  the  lakes  at  the 
head  of  the  stream,  and  it  was  hard  not  to  revert  to  them 
in  thought,  and  imagine  ourselves  unable  to  move  with- 
out a  sail  and  a  good  wind  abaft.  Very  soon  an  omin- 
ous line  of  drift  timber  apjDeared  in  our  front,  seeming 
to  stretch  from  shore  to  shore  as  we  approached  it,  and 
the  great  channel  broke  up  into  half  a  dozen  smaller 
ones  that  went  winding  through  sand-spits  and  log- 
locked  debris,  down  one  of  which  we  shot  and  were  just 
breathing  more  freely  when  the  same  occurrence  was 
repeated,  and  we  slipped  down  a  shallow  branch  that 
was  not  over  fifty  yards  in  width,  only  to  bring  up  on  a 
bar  in  the  swift  current,  with  less  than  a  foot  of  water 
ahead  over  the  spit  that  ran  from  the  bar  to  the  shore. 


272  ALONG  ALASKA'S  GREAT  RIVER. 

Near  the  other  shore  was  a  channel  so  deep  that  we 
might  have  floatea  with  ease,  but  to  reach  it  again  we 
should  have  to  pry  our  vessel  up  stream  against  water  so 
swift  as  almost  to  take  us  off  our  feet.  Through  this 
deep  channel  every  thing  was  carried  on  our  backs  to  tlie 
shore,  and  then  commenced  a  struggle  that  lasted  from 
ten  o'clock  in  the  morning  until  well  past  two  in  the 
afternoon ;  our  longest  and  most  trying  delay  on  the 
trij),  and  which  limited  our  day's  travel  to  thirty-six 
miles  in  fourteen  hours'  work.  Half  as  much  would 
have  satisfied  us,  however,  for  I  think  it  was  the  only 
time  on  the  trip  when  we  made  serious  calculations  re- 
garding the  abandonment  of  the  raft  and  the  building  of 
another.  There  were  other  occasions  when  such  an  event 
seemed  probable,  but  in  some  way  we  had  managed  to 
escape  this  necessity. 

Our  camp  that  evening  was  on  a  bank  so  high  and 
solid  that  we  conjectured  it  must  be  the  main  bank  (of 
the  eastern  side).  So  steep  was  it  that  steins  had  to  be 
cut  in  it  in  order  to  reach  the  top  with  our  camping  and 
cooking  effects. 

At  this  camp — 39 — and  a  few  of  the  preceding  ones 
we  found  rosebuds  large  and  sweet  enough  to  eat,  and 
really  a  palatable  change  from  the  salt  and  canned  pro- 
visions of  our  larder.  They  were  very  much  larger  than 
those  we  are  accustomed  to  see  in  the  United  States 
proper  and  somewhat  elongated  or  pear  shaped ;  the 
increase  in  size  being  entirely  in  the  fleshy  capsule  which 
was  crisp  and  tender,  while  even  the  seeds  seemed  to  be 
less  dry  and  "downy,"  or  full  of  "cotton,"  than  those 
of  temj^erate  climes. 

The  mosquitoes  were  a  little  less  numerous  in  the  flat- 


THROUGH  THE  YUKON  FLAT-LANDS.  273 

lands,  but,  at  first,  the  little  black  gnats  seemed  to  grow 
even  worse.  Mr.  Homan,  who  was  esiDecially  troubled 
by  these  latter  pests,  had  his  hands  so  swollen  by  their 
constant  attacks  that  he  could  hardly  draw  his  fingers 
together  to  grasp  the  pencil  with  which  he  recorded  his 
topographical  notes.  Dr.  Wilson  and  I  experimented 
with  some  oil  of  pennyroyal  taken  from  the  medicine 
chest,  which  is  extensively  used  as  an  iini)ortant  ingred- 
ient of  the  mosquito  cures  advertised  in  more  southern 
climes.  It  is  very  volatile  and  evaporates  so  rapidly 
that  it  was  only  efficacious  with  the  pests  of  the  Yukon 
for  two  or  three  minutes,  when  they  would  attack  the 
spot  where  it  had  been  spread  with  their  old  vigor. 
Mixed  with  grease  it  held  its  properties  a  little  longer, 
but  would  never  do  to  depend  upon  in  this  mosquitc 
infested  country. 

I  noticed  that  evening  that  banked  or  cumulus  clouds, 
lying  low  along  the  horizon  invariably  indicated  mount- 
ains or  hills  stretching  under  them  if  all  the  other  parts 
of  the  sky  were  clear.  At  that  time  we  recognized 
the  Romantzoff  range  by  this  means,  bearing  north- 
west, a  discovery  we  easily  verified  the  next  morning 
when  the  air  was  clear  in  every  direction.  At  no  time 
while  we  were  drifting  through  the  flat-lands,  when  the 
weather  and  our  position  were  favorable,  were  hills  or 
mountains  out  of  view,  although  at  times  so  distant  as 
to  resemble  light  blue  clouds  on  the  horizon. 

Although  we  were  at  the  most  northern  part  of  our 
journey  while  in  this  level  tract,  actually  passing  within 
the  Arctic  regions  for  a  short  distance  at  old  Fort  Yukon, 
yet  there  was  no  part  of  the  journey  where  we  suffered 
so  much  from  the  downj)ouring  heat  of  the  sun,  v/hen- 


274  ALONG  ALASKA'S  GREAT  RIVER. 

ever  tlie  weather  was  clear  :  and  exasperatingly  enough 
our  greatest  share  of  clear  weather  was  while  we  were 
floating  between  the  upper  and  lower  ramparts. 

All  day  on  the  26th  thei  current  seemed  to  set  to  the 
westward,  and  we  left  island  after  island  upon  our  right 
in  sj^ite  of  all  our  efforts,  for  we  wanted  to  keep  the 
extreme  eastern  channels  so  as  to  make  old  Fort  Yukon, 
where  we  had  learned  that  an  Indian,  acting  as  a  trader 
for  the  Alaska  Company  might  have  some  flour  to  sell. 
Our  most  strenuous  efforts  in  the  hot  sun  were  rewarded 
by  our  stranding  a  number  of  times  on  the  innumerable 
shoals  in  the  shallow  river,  delaying  us  altogether  nearly 
three  hours,  and  allowing  us  to  make  but  thirty-three 
miles,  our  course  bringing  us  almost  in  proximity  to  the 
western  bank.  I  knew  that  we  must  be  but  a  short  dis- 
tance from  old  Fort  Yukon,  at  which  point  I  intended  to 
await  the  river  steamer's  arrival  so  as  to  procure  provis- 
ions, for  I  had  only  two  days'  rations  left ;  but  this  day 
had  been  so  unfavorable  that  I  almost  gave  up  all  hope 
of  making  the  Fort,  expecting  to  drift  by  next  day  far 
out  of  sight  of  it.  About  eleven  o'clock  that  niglit 
"  Alexy,"  the  half-breed  Russian  interi)reter  for  La  due, 
came  into  our  camp  in  his  canoe,  saying  that  Ladue  had 
gone  on  down  to  Fort  Yukon  that  day,  keeping  the  main 
right-hand  channel  which  we  had  missed,  and  that  we 
were  now  so  far  to  the  west  and  so  near  Fort  Yukon  that 
we  might  pass  it  to-morrow  among  the  islands  without 
seeing  it  unless  we  kept  more  to  the  right.  After  receiv- 
ing this  doleful  information,  which  coincided  so  exactly 
with  our  own  conclusions,  we  went  to  sleej),  and 
"  Alexy''  paddled  awny  down  stream,  keeping  a  strong 
course  to  the  east,  but  it  would  ha  re  required  Great  East- 


THROUGH  THE  YUKON  FLAT-LANDS.  275 

ern'  s  engines  on  board  of  our  cumbersome  raft  in  order 
for  us  to  make  it. 

From  the  moment  of  our  casting  loose  the  raft,  on  the 
morning  of  the  37th,  we  commenced  our  struggle  with  the 
current  to  gain  ground,  or  rather,  water,  to  the  eastward, 
often  with  double  and  treble  complements  of  men  at  both 
oars.  Point  after  point  we  successfully  essayed, working 
like  pirates  after  their  prey  ;  and  fully  a  half  dozen  of 
these,  I  believe,  were  so  closely  passed  across  their  upper 
ends  that  a  score  less  of  strokes  would  have  allowed  us  to 
float  doAvu  the  western  channel.  Almost  at  the  last  min- 
ute we  got  such  a  straight  away  course  to  the  right  bank 
that  looking  backward  it  seemed  as  if  we  had  ferried  our 
way  directly  across  the  river,  and  as  we  rounded  the  last 
island  Fort  Yukon's  old  dilapidated  buildings  burst  into 
view,  in  tlie  xcvj  nick  of  time,  too,  for  that  particular 
island  extended  well  below  the  site  of  the  old  fort,  and 
we  passed  aiound  it  hardly  a  good  hop,  skip  and  a  jump 
from  its  upp'^r  point.  We  could  not  suppress  a  cheer 
as  the  hard  -e'arned  victory  was  won,  for  to  verify  the  old 
adage  that  ' '  it  never  rains  but  it  pours  "  good  luck,  there 
at  the  bank  was  the  river  steamer  "Yukon"  and  from  her 
decks  came  -i  rattling  volley  of  shots  to  welcome  us  and 
to  which  wo  replied  almost  gun  for  gun.  A  little  more 
hard  pulling  and  we  landed  the  raft  just  above  the  build- 
ings and  about  three  or  four  hundred  yards  above  the 
steamer,  which  Ave  at  once  j)repared  to  visit.  The  "Yu- 
kon ' '  is  quite  a  small  affair  compared  with  the  river  boats 
of  the  United  States,  but  quite  well  built  and  well  mod- 
eled. They  spoke  of  it  as  a  ten-ton  boat,  although  I 
took  it  to  be  one  of  double  or  treble  that  capacity,  its 
machinery  being  powerful  enough  to  drive  a  vessel  of 


276 


ALONG  ALASKA'S  GREAT  EIVEt. 


five  or  six  times  tliat  tonnage  against  any  ordinal^  ^^x 
rent,  but  very  necessary  for  a  boat  of  even  the  smallest 
size  on  such  a  swift  stream  as  the  Yukon.     The  machin- 
ery took  up  the  greater  portion  of  her  interior  and  were  it 
not  for  the  upper  decks,  it  would  have  been  difficult  to 


THE   STEAMER   "  YUKOX,"    (iN^   A    HERD    OF   MOOSE). 

(A  Bcenc  in  the  Yukon  Flat-lands.) 

iiiid  room  for  her  large  crew.  The  moment  I  caught 
sight  of  the  crew  they  seemed  so  like  old  acquaintanc^es 
th;it  I  was  on  the  jioint  of  probing  my  memory  for  tlie 
circumstances  of  our  former  meeting,  when  a  second 
thought  convinced  me  that  it  was  only  my  familiarity 
with  the  Eskimo  face  that  had  produced  the  effect  of  a 


THROUGH  THE  YUKON  FLAT-LANDS.  277 

recognition.  These  Esl^imos  had  been  hired  on  the  Lower 
Yukon,  and  but  for  their  being  a  little  more  stolid  and 
homely  than  those  of  north  Hudson's  Bay,  I  should 
have  thought  myself  back  among  the  tribes  of  that  region. 
They  make  better  and  more  tractable  workmen  than  any 
of  the  Indians  along  the  river,  and  in  many  other  ways  are 
superior  to  the  latter  for  the  white  men's  purposes,  being 
more  honest,  ingenious  and  clever  in  the  use  of  tools, 
while  treachery  is  an  unknown  element  in  their  character. 
The  master  of  the  "Yukon"  was  Captain  Petersen,  and 
the  Alaska  Company's  trader  was  Mr.  McQuestion,  both 
of  whom  had  been  for  many  years  in  the  em^^loy  of  that 
company  on  the  river.  From  the  former  I  ascertained 
through  information  which  he  volunteered,  that  he  had 
a  large  ten  or  twelve  ton  river  schooner  at  the  trading 
station  of  Nuklakayet,  some  three  hundred  miles 
further  down  the  river  to  which  I  was  welcome  when  I 
reached  that  point  with  the  raft.  After  the  "  Yukon  " 
had  ascended  the  river  as  far  as  Belle  Isle,  he  would 
return  and  would  pick  us  up  wherever  found  and  tow  the 
3chooner  or  barJca  as  it  was  called  in  the  local  language 
of  the  country,  a  sort  of  hybrid  Russian  vernacular. 
From  long  experience  on  the  river,  Captain  Petersen 
estimated  its  current  at  about  five  miles  an  hour  above 
•lid  Fort  Yukon  for  the  short  distance  which  he  had  as- 
cended with  the  steamer ;  but  probably  four  from  there  to 
Nuklakayet ;  three  and  a  half  to  Nulato  ;  and  three  be- 
low that  until  the  influence  of  the  low  tides  from  Bering's 
Sea  is  felt.  Of  course  this  rate  of  speed  varies  somewhat 
with  the  season,  but  is  the  average  during  the  period  of 
navigation  in  July  and  August,  He  expected  to  over- 
take me  about  the  15th  of  August  somewhere  near  Nul- 


278  ALONG  ALASKA'S  anEAT  RIVER. 

ato,  as  he  liad  orders  to  pull  the  St.  Michael's  off  the 
gravel  bar  where  she  was  lying,  the  Alaska  Commercial 
Company  having  bought  out  all  the  effects  of  the  rival 
concern  after  the  latter  had  expended  between  half  a 
million  and  a  million  of  dollars  without  any  reasonable 
remuneration  for  the  outlay.  This  the  captain  thought 
would  detain  him  a  week  or  ten  days,  and  if  I  could  get 
as  far  as  Nulato,  or  Anvik,  it  would  save  him  towing  the 
"barka"  that  far  on  its  way  to  St.  Michaers  or  "the 
redoubt,"  as  they  all  call  it  on  the  river.  Thus  we 
should  be  doing  each  other  a  mutual  favor.  The 
"barka,"  however,  had  none  of  its  sails,  except  a  jib, 
and  this  circumstance,  coupled  with  the  head  winds  that 
we  should  be  sure  to  encounter  on  the  lower  river  at  this 
!>eason,  reduced  us  to  find  our  motive  j)Ower  still  in  the 
furrent.  Provisions  were  purchased  in  sufficient  quantity 
"to  last  as  far  as  Nuklakayet,  where  w^e  could  select  from 
a  much  more  varied  stock. 

Our  dead  reckoning,  as  checked  by  the  astronomical 
observations,  showed  the  distance  from  the  site  of  old 
Fort  Selkirk  to  Fort  Yukon  to  be  four  hundred  and 
ninety  miles,  and  two-tenths,  (490.2)  ;  and  the  entire  dis- 
tance of  the  latter  place  from  Crater  Lake,  at  the  head 
of  the  river,  nine  hundred  and  eighty-nine  (989)  miles  ; 
the  raft  journey  having  been  twelve  miles  less.  In  run- 
ning from  Pyramid  (Island)  Harbor  of  Chilkat  Inlet,  the 
last  point  we  liad  left  which  had  been  determined  by  as- 
tronomical instruments  of  precision,  to  Fort  Yukon,  the 
next  such  point,  a  distance  of  over  a  thousand  miles, 
Mr.  Roman's  dead  reckoning,  unchecked  the  whole  dis- 
tance, was  in  error  less  tlum  ten  miles  ;  and  from  Fort 
Selkirk,  determined  by  sextant  and  chronometer — the 


THROUGH  THE  YUKON  FLAT-LANDS.  279 

latter  regulated  between  tlie  above  two  places — to  Fort 
Yukon,  the  error  was  less  than  six  miles.  At  this  point 
we  connected  our  surveys  with  the  excellent  one  given 
to  the  lower  river  by  Captain  Raymond  in  1869  ;  although 
we  continued  our  own  as  far  as  the  Aphoon,  or  northern, 
mouth  of  the  Yukon  River. 

When  Russian  America  became  Alaska,  or  to  be  pre- 
cise, in  1867,  that  date  found  the  Russians  established  as 
traders  only  on  the  lower  river  a  considerable  distance 
below  the  flat-lands,  while  in  1848  the  Hudson  Bay  Com- 
pany had  established  Fort  Yukon  within  their  territory, 
a  port  which  they  were  still  maintaining.  Upon  our  ac- 
cession, it  was  determined  to  fix  the  position  of  Fort 
Yukon  astronomically,  and  if  it  should  prove  to  be  on 
Alaskan  soil — west  of  the  141st  meridian — the  Hudson 
Bay  Company  employes  would  be  notified  to  vacate  the 
premises.  This  was  done  by  Captain  Raymond  in  1869. 
In  the  course  of  this  occupation  a  good  map  of  the 
Yukon  River  was  made  from  its  mouth  to  Fort  Yukon, 
which  was  published  by  the  War  Department,  accom- 
panied by  a  report.  With  this  it  may  be  said  that  the 
results  of  the  expedition  ceased,  as  that  department  of 
the  government  does  not  publish  and  sell  maps  made  un- 
der its  direction,  and  they  therefore  are  practically  de- 
prived of  circulation.  When  I  asked  Captain  Petersen 
if  he  used  maps  in  navigating  the  river,  he  said  that  he 
seldom  did,  as  there  were  no  good  ones  in  existence  for 
the  permanent  channels  of  the  river,  while  the  temporary 
channels  were  so  variable  that  his  old  maps  w^ere  of  lit- 
tle service.  He  had  never  heard  of  the  Raymond  map 
being  published,  and  on  being  shown  one,  seemed  aston- 
ished that  so  good  a  map  was  in  existence,  and  asked  me 


280  ALONG  ALASKA'S  GREAT  RIVER. 

to  send  him  a  copy,  wliicli  I  was  unable  to  do,  as  I  could 
not  procure  one  at  the  proper  department  in  Washing- 
ton. The  maps  he  had  were  those  made  by  the  Russians 
when  they  were  in  possession  of  the  country,  which  are 
still  the  best  of  such  as  can  be  procured. 

The  Indians  in  and  around  old  Fort  Yukon  are  known 
to  the  traders  as  the  Fort  Yukon  Indians,  which  is  prob- 
ably as  good  a  name  as  any,  as  they  are  not  entitled  to 
be  regarded  as  a  distinct  tribe  (or  even  as  part  of  one),  in 
the  ordinary  acceptation  of  the  word.  The  country  of 
the  flatlands  is  not  well  stocked  with  game  of  the  kind 
that  would  support  any  great  number  of  Indians  at  all 
seasons,  and  as  the  river  spreads  over  so  wide  an  extent, 
the  chances  of  catching  fish  are  proportionately  de- 
creased, and  altogether  the  flat-lands  would  be  rejected 
by  the  natives  for  other  locations.  I  was  told  by  those 
who  ought  to  know,  and  whose  assertions  seem  to  be 
borne  out  by  other  evidence,  that  there  were  no  Indians 
who  made  this  country  their  home  until  Fort  Yukon  was 
established  in  1848,  an  event  which  attracted  the  usual 
number  of  Indians  around  the  post  who  are  always  seen 
about  a  frontier  trading  station,  many  of  whom  made  it 
their  home.  They  came  up  the  river,  down  the  main 
stream,  and  down  the  great  tributary,  the  Rat  or  Porcu- 
pine River  which  empties  itself  near  the  fort,  so  that 
the  settlement  was  recruited  by  stragglers  from  several 
tribes,  and  it  was  for  this  reason  that  I  spoke  of  them  as 
not  being  a  distinct  tribe.  The  Indian  who  assumed  the 
role  of  chief,  Senati,  as  he  is  called  by  the  white  peo- 
ple, a  savage  of  more  than  ordinary  authority  and  deter- 
mination, came  from  the  lower  ramparts  where  there  ex- 
ists a  village  bearing  his  name,  which  he  still  visits. 


THROUGH  THE  YUKON  FLAT-LANDS.  281 

Since  the  abandonment  of  the  post  by  the  Alaska  Com- 
pany, his  force  of  character  has  done  much  to  hold  to- 
gether the  handful  of  natives  that  still  cling  to  the  old 
spot ;  but  with  his  death  and  the  desertion  of  the  place 
by  white  traders  this  part  of  the  river  will  soon  return 
to  its  former  wildness.  When  the  Hudson  Bay  Com- 
pany came  upon  the  river  at  the  point  where  they  built 
this  fort,  they  felt  safe  from  the  encroachments  of  the 
Russians,  although  trespassing ui^on  Russian  soil,  as  the 
Yukon  was  su^^posed  to  flow  northward,  and,  like  the 
Mackenzie,  to  x>our  its  waters  into  the  polar  sea.  Old 
max^s  may  still  be  found  bearing  out  this  idea,*  the  Col- 
ville  being  pressed  into  service  as  the  conjectural  continu- 
ation of  the  Yukon  into  the  Arctic  portion  of  Alaska. 

The  27th  and  28th  were  occupied  in  taking  observations 
to  rate  and  correct  the  chronometer,  much  of  the  first 
day  being  spent  in  company  with  the  officers  of  the  boat, 
who  recounted  their  interesting  adventures  on  the  river 
and  its  adjacent  regions,  in  which  their  lives  had  been 
spent.  I  recall  an  episode  of  Mr.  McQuestion's  early 
life  which  so  well  illustrates  the  extraordinary  vigor  of 
the  'voyagenrs  of  the  Hudson  Bay  Company  in  the 
British  north- west  territory  that  I  shall  briefly  repeat  it. 
His  boyhood  was  spent  in  the  northern  peninsula  of 
Michigan  and  the  states  and  territories  to  the  westward, 
until  finally  he  found  himself  at  old  Fort  Garry,  then  an 
important  post  of  the  Hudson  Bay  Company.  Here  he 
was    brought  into   constant   contact  with   the   restless 

*  As  late  as  1883,  a  fine  globe  bearing  that  date,  costing  some 
hundreds  of  dollars,  was  received  by  tlie  American  Geographical 
Society  from  a  London  firm,  whicli  still  bears  this  error,  corrected 
over  twenty  years  ago. 


283  ALONG  ALASKA'S  GREAT  RIVER. 

vo?/ageurs,  and  from  them  he  imbibed  much  of  their 
adventurous  spirit,  and  was  imbued  with  a  longing  to 
visit  the  far  north  land  of  which  they  spoke.  He  heard 
of  Athabasca  as  other  lads  might  hear  of  California  and 
Mexico  and  Peru,  while  the  Mackenzie  and  Yukon 
resembled  to  his  imagination  some  fabled  El  Dorado  or 
Aladdin's  dream.  He  longed  to  see  these  lands  for 
himself,  but  he  knew  the  hard  work  the  voyageurs  were 
compelled  to  endure.  He  had  seen  the  bundles  and  bags 
and  boxes  of  a  hundred  pounds  that  they  were  to  carry 
on  their  backs  around  rapids  too  swift  to  pole  or  ' '  track, ' ' 
and  over  the  many  portages  and  exchanges  on  their  long 
journeys.  He  knew  he  was  not  equal  to  the  work 
required,  but  with  the  enthusiasm  of  youth  he  deter- 
mined to  make  himself  equal  to  it  by  a  course  of  physical 
training,  and  after  several  months  presented  himself  to 
an  agent  of  the  company  as  a  full-fledged  vopageur.  To 
his  delight  he  was  accepted  and  entered  on  their  books 
at  a  monthly  salary,  that  probably  being  the  least  im- 
portant part  to  him  at  the  time.  The  first  party  which 
started  northward  in  the  spring  included  young 
McQuestion  in  its  number,  the  most  enthusiastic  of  all. 
Days  wore  on  and  much  of  his  enthusiasm  was  repressed 
by  the  hard  experiences  of  the  journey,  but  it  was  by  no 
means  destroyed.  In  a  few  days  the  other  voyageurs 
began  talking  of  the  great  portage,  where  every  thing, 
canoes  included,  had  to  be  carried  on  their  backs  around 
the  swift  rapids,  and  wishing  that  their  task,  tlie  hardest 
they  had  to  encounter  in  the  northern  regions,  was  well 
over.  McQuestion  rather  regarded  it  in  the  light  of 
variety,  as  a  break  from  the  monotony  of  weary  paddling 
over  still  and  "  tracking  "  through  swift  water.     At  last 


THROUGH  THE  YUKON  FLAT-LANDS.  28^ 

the  lower  end  of  the  great  portage  was  reached  at  a  small 
cascade,  and  as  the  great  canoe  in  which  the  young 
Doyageur  Avas  paddling  was  nearly  at  the  lower  end  of 
the  line,  he  could  plainly  see  the  indications  ahead. 
The  canoes  came  up  and  landed  at  the  little  rocky  ledge, 
their  one  hundred  pound  bundles  were  thrown  out  on  the 
bank,  high  and  dry,  and  the  canoe  itself  was  dragged 
from  the  water  to  make  room  for  the  next.  McQuestion 
saw  the  chief  of  the  canoe  throw  a  bundle  on  the  first 
comer's  back,  and  expected  to  see  him  start  off  over  the 
trail  to  the  upper  end  of  the  portage,  said  to  be  ten  or 
twelve  miles  across,  and  running  through  a  tangiewood 
with  all  kinds  of  obstructions  occurring  the  whole  way. 
As  the  man  did  not  start  off,  however,  McQuestion 
watched  eagerly  for  the  reason,  and  was  astonished  to 
see  the  chief  put  a  second  bundle  of  a  hundred  pounds 
apon  the  other  for  the  packer  to  carry,  a  load  under 
which  he  expected  to  see  the  poor  fellow  stagger  or  fall. 
He  did  not  fall,  however,  nor  even  stagger,  but  wheeled 
in  his  tracks  and  started  off  at  a  good  sharp  run,  and 
disappeared  over  the  hill.  In  a  few  minutes  he  reap- 
peared on  the  crest  of  another  hill,  still  maintaining  his 
rapid  gait,  and  with  half  a  dozen  others  following  him 
on  the  trail,  with  each  carrying  the  same  weight,  and 
proceeding  at  the  same  gait.  His  heart  sank  within  him, 
and  as  he  climbed  the  ledge  of  rock  he  felt  almost  like  a 
criminal  on  the  way  to  execution.  He  received  his  two 
bundles,  started  off,  and  managed  to  keep  up  his  gait 
over  the  crest  of  the  nearest  hill,  when  he  fell,  spread 
out  at  full  length  over  the  first  log  he  attempted  to  cross. 
He  returned  to  the  factor  in  charge  of  the  expedition, 
and  a  compromise  was  made  by  which  he  paid  to  that 


284  ALONG  ALASKA'S  GREAT  RIVER. 

functionary  the  amount  per  month  he  was  tc  have 
received  in  order  to  accompany  the  party  as  a  passenger. 
At  one  of  the  northern  posts  he  obtained  a  situation 
more  to  his  liking,  and  thus  drifted  into  the  company's 
employ,  finally  crossing  over  to  the  Yukon  River,  and 
transferring  his  allegiance  to  the  Alaska  Comimny  w^hen 
it  succeeded  his  old  masters. 

On  the  forenoon  of  the  20th,  the  Yukon  continued  her 
voyage  up  the  stream,  having  accomplished  all  the 
summer  trading  with  the  Fort  Yukon  Indians  the  day 
previous.  I  was  present  at  an  afternoon  parley  with 
them,  and  was  greatly  impressed  at  the  patience  exhib- 
ited and  required  by  traders  among  these  savages  ;  a 
patience  such  as  not  one  shoi^man  in  a  thousand  pos- 
sesses, according  to  my  exj^erience,  however  great  a 
haggler  he  may  be.  McQuestion  had  learned  the  art  of 
patience  from  his  old  employers,  probably  the  most 
successful  bargainers  with  savages  the  world  has  ever 
seen.  Indian  No.  1  put  in  an  appearance  with  a  miser- 
able lot  of  furs,  and  a  more  miserable  story  of  poverty, 
the  badness  of  the  winter  for  trapjDing,  the  scarcity  of 
animals  and  the  inferiority  of  the  pelts,  his  large  family 
in  need  of  supi)ort,  his  honesty  with  the  company  in 
the  past,  and  a  score  of  other  pleas,  the  upshot  of  which 
was  a  request  that  he  might  be  supplied  with  clothing 
and  ammunition  for  another  year  in  return  for  the  pelts 
at  his  feet.  The  trader  replies,  setting  a  definite  price 
in  trading  material  for  the  amount  of  skins  before  him, 
and  the  "dickering"  begins.  After  half  an  hour  or  an 
hour's  talk  of  the  most  tiresome  description,  the  dis- 
cussion ends  in  the  Indian  accepting  the  exact  amount 
the  trader  originally  offered,  or  about  one-tenth  of  his 


THROUGH  THE  YUKON  FLAT-LANDS.  285 

own  demafids.  Indian  No.  2,  who  has  heard  every  word 
of  the  conversation,  then  comes  forward  with  the  same 
quality  of  furs  and  exactly  the  same  story,  the  trade 
lasting  exactly  the  same  time,  and  with  exactly  the  same 
result ;  and  so  on  with  all  the  others  in  turn.  Even 
No.  12,  of  the  dozen  present,  does  not  vary  the  stereo- 
typed proceedings  any  more  than  an  actor's  interpreta- 
tion of  a  part  varies  on  the  twelfth  night  of  the  piece. 
Then  Indian  No.  1  comes  forward  again  with  a  i3ackage 
of  furs  of  a  better  quality  than  the  first  he  displayed, 
and  solemnly  affirms  that  these  are  the  only  ones  he  has 
left,  and  that  if  the  trader  will  not  give  him  enough 
clothing  for  himself  and  family,  and  enough  ammunition 
to  last  through  the  winter  in  return  for  them,  they  must 
all  go  naked  and  perhaps  starve  for  want  of  the  means 
of  procuring  food.  This  story,  with  its  continuation, 
lasts  about  half  as  long  as  the  first,  but  ends  in  the  same 
way,  as  the  Indian' s  eloquence  has  about  as  much  effect 
on  the  trader  as  it  would  on  the  proverbial  row  of  stumps. 
The  farce  is  repeated  by  all  the  Indians  in  turn,  and  is 
yet  again  repeated  at  least  once  before  the  entire  trans- 
action is  over,  during  all  of  which  time  the  white  trader 
sits  composedly  on  his  stool,  and  gives  a  patient  and 
unvarying  answer  to  each  in  his  turn,  under  provocation 
that  would  have  put  Job  in  a  frenzy  before  the  first 
circle  was  completed. 

On  the  29th  of  July  we  took  an  early  departure,  and 
about  noon  XDassed  an  Indian  village  of  five  or  six  tents 
and  ten  or  a  dozen  canoes,  which  might  have  appeared 
uninhabited  bu^  for  the  dogs  that  surrounded  the  tents, 
nearly  a  scor'^  ."»  every  one,  proving  that  their  owners 
were  either  as^sep  or  only  temporarily  absent.    The  dogs 


286  ALONG  ALASKA'S  GREAT  RIVER. 

flocked  down  the  beach  and  up  the  bank,  and  emitted 
such  a  cliorus  of  unearthly  howls  that  we  were  grateful 
to  the  current  for  hurrying  us  away.  That  day  we 
drifted  50.5  (geographical)  miles  in  a  trifle  over  thirteen 
hours,  showing  but  little  diminution  in  the  river's  rate 
of  speed.  It  was  an  exceedingly  hot  blistering  day  on 
the  river,  almost  unbearable,  and  the  heat,  couj)led  with 
the  clouds  of  mosquitoes,  impelled  the  doctor  to  remark 
that  it  was  clear  to  the  casual  observer  that  we  were  in 
the  Arctic  regions.  About  seven  o'  clock  in  the  evening, 
the  thermometer  marking  80°  Fahrenheit  in  the  shade, 
we  saw  "sun-dogs,"  or  parhelia,  very  plainly  marked 
on  either  side  of  the  western  sun,  a  phenomenon  I  had 
so  often  observed  in  the  Arctic  winter  and  in  Arctic 
weather  elsewhere,  as  to  seem  incongruous  during  such 
tropical  heat.  A  heavy  rain  shower  came  up  about  ten 
o'  clock  at  night  and  continued  at  intervals  until  late  the 
next  morning. 

"  It  is  an  ill  wind  that  blows  no  one  any  good,"  and  if 
the  gnats  and  mosquitoes  did  keep  us  awake  all  night 
they  allowed  us  to  start  two  hours  earlier  than  usual,  and 
in  spite  of  a  gale  in  the  afternoon  that  made  it  very  difii- 
cult  to  steer  w^ell  and  to  keep  off  the  lee  banks,  we 
camped  reasonably  early  and  had  forty-four  miles  to  our 
credit  in  addition.  This  wind  w^as  very  cold  and  disa- 
greeable, with  heavy  black  clouds  overhead  ;  a  most 
decided  change  in  the  weather  since  the  day  before,  but 
for  the  better,  as  the  strong  wind  kejjt  down  the  mos- 
quitoes and  gave  us  all  a  good  night's  rest. 

The  31st  was  uneventful,  and  in  fact  it  was  only  in  the 
casual  incidents  of  our  voyage  that  we  found  any  thing 
to  interest  us  while  floating  through   this   region,  a  flat 


THROUGH  THE  YUKON  FLAT-LANDS.  287 

desert  clothed  with  spruce  trees,  all  of  a  uniform  size,  and 
monotonous  in  the  extreme.  We  scored  forty-five  geo- 
graphical miles  and  retired  at  night  in  a  rain  shower, 
which  continued  with  such  unabated  fury  next  clay  that 
we  remained  in  camj).  A  stroll  that  evening  disclosed 
the  distal  extremity  of  a  mastodon' s  femur  on  the  gravel 
beach  near  camp,  Mr.  Homan  finding  a  tooth  of  the 
same  animal  near  by.  For  many  years  the  scattered 
bones  of  this  extinct  animal  have  been  found  along  the 
Yukon,  showing  that  this  region  was  once  its  home. 
When  at  Fort  Yukon  an  Indian  brought  the  tooth  of  a 
mastodon  to  a  member  of  my  party,  and  receiving  some- 
thing for  it,  probably  more  than  he  expected,  told  the 
white  man  that  the  entire  skeleton  was  protruding  from 
the  banks  of  one  of  the  islands,  about  a  day's  journey  up 
the  river.  Our  limited  time  and  transiDortation  forbade 
investigating  it  further.  In  a  few  years,  I  suppose,  the 
bank  will  be  excavated  by  the  undermining  river,  and 
the  bones  swept  away  and  scattered  over  many  bars  and 
beaches,  for  it  is  in  such  places  that  the  greatest  numbers 
are  found,  while  a  complete  skeleton  in  situ  is  a  rarity. 
In  spite  of  slight  showers  and  a  general  ' '  bad  out- 
look, "  we  started  early  next  morning,  and  were  very 
soon  driven  into  a  slough  on  the  left  (southern)  bank  by 
a  strong  north-west  wind.  Through  this  spot  the  cur- 
rent was  so  stagnant  that  we  were  over  two  hours  in 
making  a  little  less  than  two  miles.  At  one  time  the 
head  wind  threatened  to  bring  us  completely  to  a  stand- 
still, so  slight  was  our  motive  power.  Nor  was  this  our 
only  episode  of  the  same  character.  Several  times  the 
exasperating  wind  played  us  this  trick,  and  when  we 
camped  for  the  night  after  twelve  hours  spent  on  the 


288  ALONG  ALASKA'S  GREAT  RIVER. 

water,  we  could  only  reckon  twenty-six  miles  to  our 
credit.  The  event  tliorouglily  established  the  fact  that 
the  central  channels  of  the  many  which  penetrate  this 
flat  district  contain  the  swiftest  currents,  while  along  the 
main  banks  there  are  numerous  water-ways  open  at  both 
ends  with  almost  stagnant  water  in  them.  About  three 
in  the  afternoon  we  passed  a  double  log  house  on  the 
right  bank  with  two  or  three  small  log  caches  mounted 
high  in  the  air  on  the  corner  posts,  and  two  graves,  all 
of  which  seemed  new  in  construction,  although  the  place 
was  entirely  deserted.  Indian  signs  of  all  kinds  now 
began  to  appear  as  we  api^roached  the  lower  ramparts, 
although  no  Indians  were  seen.  By  noon  the  blue  hills 
ot  the  ramparts  were  seen  to  our  left,  and  by  the  middle 
of  the  afternoon,  we  could  make  out  individual  trees 
upon  them,  and  at  half -past  seven  o'clock  we  camped  on 
the  last  island  in  the  great  group  of  from  two  to  ten 
thousand  through  which  we  had  been  threading  our  way 
so  long,  with  the  upper  gates  of  the  lower  ramparts  ir 
full  sight,  about  a  mile  or  two  distant. 


CHAPTER  XI. 

THROUGH  THE   LOWER   RAMPARTS,  AI*^D  THE  END   OF  THE 
RAFT   JOURNEY. 


INDIAN    "CACHE       ON   LOWER  YUKON. 


ERY  well  defined  indeed 
are  the  upper  gates  of 
the  lower  ramparts,  and 
one  enters  them  from 
above  Avitli  a  sudden- 
ness that  recalls  his 
childish  ideas  of  moun- 
tain ranges  taken  from 
juvenile  geography- 
books,  where  they  are 
represented  as  a  closely 
connected  series  of  tre- 
mendously steep  peaks,  with  no  outlying  hills  connect- 
ing them  with  the  level  valleys  by  gently  rolling  slopes, 
as  nature  has  fortunately  chosen  to  do  ;  this  approach 
to  the  lower  ramparts  being  one  of  the  few  exceptions. 
The  lower  termination  is  not  by  any  means  so  well  marked 
as  after  the  rapids  at  Senati's  village  are  passed ;  there 
is  a  gradual  lowering  of  the  range,  broken  by  many  ab- 
rupt as  well  as  gradual  rises  until  the  delta  at  the  mouth 
of  the  river  is  reached,  far  beyond  the  point  at  which 
any  traveler  has  placed  their  western  limit.  I  think  I 
agree  pretty  well  with  others  in  placing  it  about  the 
mouth  of  the  Tanana  or  Nuklakayet  trading  station. 


290  ALONG  ALASKA'S  GREAT  RIVER. 

This  would  give  the  lower  ramparts  a  length  of  about 
one  hundred  miles  along  the  river,  or  about  one-fourth 
the  length  of  the  upper  ramparts. 

On  August  3d  we  started  at  7:30  A.  m.,  and  half  an 
hour  afterward  our  hearts  were  gladdened  by  re-enter- 
ing the  hilly  country,  for  the  flat  and  monotonous  dis- 
tricts through  which  we  had  been  drifting  for  many 
days  induced  a  peculiar  depression  difficult  to  describe  avS 
well  as  to  suffer.  Our  entry  was  signaled  by  the  killing 
of  three  young  but  almost  full-grown  gray  geese  out  of 
a  small  flock  which  we  surprised  as  we  floated  around  a 
point  of  land  near  the  northern  bank.  This  incident, 
ushered  in  a  hunting  season  when  our  shot-guns  might 
have  done  great  service  but  for  our  unfavorable  condi- 
tion for  hunting,  planted  as  we  were  upon  a  raft  in  the 
middle  of  a  broad  river. 

We  had  supposed  that  when  we  entered  the  ramparts 
and  the  widely-scattered  waters  of  the  river  were  united 
into  a  single  channel,  our  speed  would  surely  increase  j 
in  fact,  we  had  been  told  as  much  by  the  steamboat  men. 
On  the  contrary,  the  current  was  distinctly  slower  than 
that  of  any  main  channel  of  the  stream  through  which 
we  had  drifted  since  leaving  the  head  of  the  river,  and 
after  floating  for  thirteen  hours  we  could  only  reckon 
thirty-six  geographical  miles  to  our  credit,  the  poorest 
record  we  had  made  except  on  days  when  we  had 
stranded  upon  a  river  bar  or  had  been  forced  do\^n  a 
side  channel  of  slack  water. 

About  one  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  we  jiassed  three 
canoes  hauled  up  on  the  right  bank,  their  owners  being 
asleep  on  the  warm  sand  of  the  shore,  nearly  naked. 
Their  clothes  were  hanging  out  to  dry,  and  they  were 


THROUGH  THE  LOWER  RAMPARTS.  291 

o.idently  remaining  over  from  the  heavy  rain-storm  of 
the  day  before.  Persistent  yelling  aroused  them,  and 
one  of  their  number  put  off  in  his  canoe,  paddling 
around  the  raft,  but  not  understanding  each  other,  he 
returned  to  the  shore,  having  uttered  but  one  word  that 
we  could  comprehend,  chy  (tea). 

A  half-hour  afterward  we  passed  the  mouth  of  the 
Ohe-taut,  a  fair-sized  stream  coming  in  from  the  north. 
Near  this  point  and  for  some  distance  beyond,  we  saw 
a  number  of  old  Indian  signs,  such  as  graves,  habitations 
and  caches,  but  the  only  living  representatives  of  the 
tribe  w^ere  the  three  sleepers  we  had  seen  a  few  miles 
back.  JN'umbers  of  large  wicker  fish-traps  were  seen 
along  the  beach,  none  of  which,  however,  were  set ;  and, 
in  general,  an  air  of  desolation  prevailed.  As  soon  as 
the  early  cold  snaps  of  approaching  winter  along  the 
Arctic  coast  of  Alaska  send  the  reindeer  southward  on 
their  migrations,  these  Nimrods  of  the  river  hasten 
northward  to  meet  them,  for  their  skins  furnish  most 
acceptable  winter  clothing,  and  their  meat  is  a  welcome 
change  from  the  dried  salmon  of  the  river.  About  six 
o'clock  we  saw  a  fair-looking  Indian  log-house  on  the 
right  bank  of  the  river,  having  a  harrabora  (Russian 
name  for  log-cabin,  half  or  nearly  underground,  the 
"dug-out"  of  the  West),  and  caclie  attached.  All  of 
the  Indian  caches  of  the  lower  ramparts,  and  even  fur- 
ther down  the  river  until  the  Eskimo  are  encountered, 
are  merely  diminutive  log-cabins  from  about  four  by  four 
to  eight  by  eight,  mounted  on  corner  logs  so  high  that  one 
can  walk  underneath  the  floor,  which  is  generally  made  of 
poles  or  puncheons.  A  steep  log  leans  against  the  door- 
sill  and  is  cut  into  steps,  to  enable  the  owner  to  ascend 


292  ALONG  ALASKA'S  GREAT  RIVER. 

(see  initial  piece  to  this  cliapter).  The  owner  of  this 
particular  cabin  had  displayed  much  more  than  the 
usual  energy  in  the  construction  of  his  domicile,  there 
actually  being  a  fence  inclosing  a  small  yard  on  one  side 
of  the  house,  and  wooden  steps  leading  up  the  steep  bank 
from  the  water's  edge  to  the  little  plateau  upon  w^hich 
the  cabin  was  built.  These  were  roughly  but  ingeni- 
ously constructed  of  small,  short  lengths  of  log,  the 
upper  sides  being  leveled  with  an  adze  or  ax. 

We  camped  at  8:30  p.  m.  near  several  Indian  graves, 
about  a  mile  or  two  above  the  mouth  of  the  Wliym- 
per  River,  which  comes  in  from  the  left,  and  just 
on  the  upper  boundary  of  the  conspicuous  valley  of 
that  stream.  There  were  quite  a  number  of  graves  at 
this  point,  forming  the  first  and  only  burying  place  we 
saw  on  the  river  that  might  be  called  a  family  graveyard, 
i.  e.,  a  spot  where  a  number,  say  six  or  seven,  were 
buried  in  a  row  within  a  single  inclosure.  From  its 
posts  at  the  corners  and  sides  were  the  usual  totems  and 
old  rags  flying,  two  of  the  carvings  representing,  I  think, 
a  duck  and  a  bear  respectively,  while  the  others  could 
not  be  made  out.  We  had  heard,  in  an  imj)erfect  way, 
on  the  upper  river,  that  some  disease  was  raging  among 
the  natives  on  the  lower  part,  and  that  whole  villages 
had  been  swept  away  and  bodies  left  unburied,  but  this 
proved  to  be  wholly  sensational.  A  mild  form  of 
measles  had  indeed  attacked  a  small  town,  causing  one 
or  two  deaths,  but  this  was  the  only  foundation  we 
could  find  for  tlie  report.  The  Yukon  River,  however,  is 
a  great  thoroughfare  for  contagious  disease,  and  mala- 
dies raging  among  the  Chilkats  have  been  known  to 
travel  its  whole  course  as  rapidly  as  we  had  done,  and 


THROUGH  THE  LOWER  RAMPARTS.  293 

from  the  river  as  a  base  had  spread  right  and  left  among 
the  native  tribes,  until  the  cold  weather  of  approaching 
winter  subdued  them,  if  they  were  amenable  to  the  influ- 
ence of  temperature.  I  have  never  heard  of  any  return 
ing  against  the  stream,  but  instances  of  their  descending 
it  are  not  infrequent.  Dr.  Wilson  tried  to  get  a  skull 
out  of  the  many  we  assumed  were  at  hand,  to  send  to 
the  Army  Museum's  large  craniological  collection,  but 
although  several  very  old-looking  sites  were  opened,  the 
skulls  were  too  fresh  to  be  properly  prepared  in  the  brief 
time  at  our  disposal. 

The  most  welcome  change  in  this  hilly  country  is  the 
diminishing  of  the  gnats  and  mosquitoes  into  quite 
endurable  numbers.  We  found  several  varieties  of  ber- 
ries near  this  camp,  one  or  two  of  which  were  quite  pal- 
atable ;  the  crisp  rosebuds  still  continuing  to  appear, 
although  perhaps  they  were  not  so  large  as  those  we 
found  near  old  Fort  Yukon. 

These  lower  ramparts  so  closely  resemble  the  ramparts 
of  the  Upper  Yukon  in  many  particulars  that  the  convic- 
tion seemed  irresistible  that  they  are  one  and  the  same 
chain  of  mountains,  and  if  I  may  be  excused  the  simile, 
are  stretched  like  a  bow-string  across  the  great  arc  of  the 
Yukon,  as  it  bends  northward  into  the  Arctic  flat-lands, 
which  latter  beyond  the  timber  line  become  the  great 
Arctic  tundra. 

The  night  of  August  3d  was  very  cold,  only  a  few 
degrees  above  freezing,  and  besides  the  chance  it  gave  us 
for  a  most  comfortable  night's  rest,  it  stiffened  up  the 
few  mosquitoes  of  the  evening  before  so  completely  that 
they  had  to  suspend  operations  altogether.  Just  before 
starting  Corporal  Shirclifl  killed  a  large  porcupine  near 


294  ALONG  ALASKA'S  GREAT  RIVER. 

camjD,  an  animal  said  to  be  qnite  numerous  along  the 
river,  and  so  abundant  in  the  flat-lands  near  Fort  Yukon 
as  to  attach  his  name  to  the  large  tributary  which  joins 
the  river  at  that  point.  It  was  nearly  eight  o'clock  when 
we  started,  and  after  a  mile's  drifting  we  passed  the 
mouth  of  the  Whymper  River,  which  we  could  not  see 
until  after  we  had  got  well  past  it.  Its  valley,  however, 
is  quite  noticeable,  and  one  would  immediately  conjec« 
ture  that  a  river  of  considerable  dimensions  flowed 
through  it. 

A  somewhat  ludicrous  incident  took  place  at  a  short 
distance  below  tliis  point.  As  we  were  drifting  along  a 
couple  of  wolves  came  trotting  leisurely  around  a  point 
of  land  just  ahead  of  us,  and  the  corporal  and  the 
cook  picking  up  their  rifles  began  firing  at  them  with 
the  usual  fatal  results — to  the  ammunition — the  wolves 
simply  snapping  at  each  shot  as  it  was  fired,  but  not 
apparently  increasing  their  pace,  though  they  were  but 
seventy-five  or  a  hundred  yards  away.  After  fully  half 
a  dozen  shots  had  been  discharged  as  fast  as  the  two 
could  load  and  fire,  an  Indian  house  broke  unexpectedly 
into  view  around  the  point  from  which  the  wolves  had 
come,  and  in  one  breath  two  or  three  of  the  amused  spec- 
tators called  out  to  the  sportsmen  that  they  were  firing 
at  Indian  dogs,  as  was  proved  by  the  tameness  of  the 
animals  and  their  proximity  to  the  house;  whereupon  I 
told  tile  men  to  desist.  The  funny  thing  was  that  they 
really  were  wolves,  and  the  two  men  had  fired  so  rapidly 
and  the  bullets  had  struck  the  bank  and  torn  out  the 
gravel  just  beyond  the  animals  so  fast  that  all  their 
attention  was  absorbed  in  that  direction  and  thus  they 
did  not  observe  us,  the  reports  of  the  shots  and  the 


THROUGH  THE  LOWER  RAMPARTS.  297 

eclioes  of  the  impacts  being  so  confusing.  The  moment 
we  ceased  and  they  heard  our  voices  and  got  one  look  at 
us  out  on  the  river  the  rapidity  with  which  they  sought 
the  woods,  left  no  doubt  as  to  their  species.  The  Indian 
house  and  surroundings  were  deserted  and  the  wolves 
had  been  smelling  around  and  investigating  some  old  ani- 
mal refuse  near  by. 

This  part  of  the  river  was  particularly  abundant  in 
Indian  signs  of  a  permanent  character  on  both  banks  of 
the  river,  but  not  a  living  soul  was  seen  anywhere. 

A  most  exasperating  gale  of  wind  raged  all  day,  driv- 
ing us  into  areas  of  slackwater  in  which  we  could 
scarcely  move,  and  keeping  us  alongside  of  steep  banks 
in  the  river  bends ;  and  when  camp  was  made  shortly 
after  eight  o'  clock,  after  being  on  the  water  over  twelve 
hours,  we  had  made  but  twenty-six  and  a  half  miles. 

During  the  day  we  saw  a  number  of  places  at  which 
the  red  rocks  croj)  out  from  the  summits  of  the  high 
hills,  resembling  those  on  the  eastern  side  of  Lake  Lin- 
deman,  which  had  been  named  the''  Iron-Capped  Mount- 
ains" on  that  account.  The  contrast  of  color  was  not 
so  great,  however,  for  on  the  latter  range  the  rocks  pro- 
jected through  the  snow  and  blue-ice  of  the  glacier-cap, 
while  in  the  lower  ramparts  they  were  surrounded  by 
brownish-red  soil  and  autumnal  foliage.  I  doubt  if  I 
should  have  noticed  them  but  for  their  great  similarity 
to  those  on  the  headwaters  of  the  river. 

Our  Camp  47  was  near  a  small  stream  on  the  left  bank 
and  I  observed  that  all  of  these  little  creeks  passing 
through  the  wet  moss  and  tundra-like  carpet  under- 
neath  the  dense  timber,  were  highly  colored  with  a  port- 
wine  hue,  although  their  waters  were  so  clear  that  one 


21)8  ALONG  ALASKA'S  GREAT  RIVER. 

could  often  see  to  the  bottom  in  places  three  and  four 
feet  deep.  Probably  these  streams  have  their  sources 
in  the  iron-impregnated  soil  and  rock  of  the  adjacent 
mountains,  and  if  flowing  through  land  where  the  drain- 
ings  have  absorbed  the  dyes  from  decaying  leaves  and 
vegetation,  acquire  this  deep  red  color,  almost  verg- 
ing on  purple,  forming  a  sort  of  natural  ink,  as  it  were. 
Wherever  these  streams  empty  themselves,  their  waters 
make  a  striking  contrast  with  the  white  and  muddy  river, 
and  often  where  there  was  nothing  else  to  indicate  that 
we  were  approaching  a  tributary,  we  would  see  ahead  a 
dark  stripe  running  out  from  the  bank  and  curving  down 
stream  as  it  took  up  the  new  direction  of  the  river's 
course,  and  this  would  indicate  the  presence  of  a  creek 
from  the  hillsides,  long  before  we  could  reach  its  mouth. 
Two  days  after  entering  this  hilly  country  we  ap- 
proached the  rapids  of  the  lower  ramparts,  of  which  we 
had  heard  and  read  so  much  that  we  felt  a  little  anxiety  as 
to  the  danger  of  approaching  them.  We  had  a  very  good 
map,  Raymond's,  of  this  part  of  the  river,  and  knew  just 
about  where  to  expect  them,  and  this  circumstance, 
coupled  with  the  instructions  received  on  the  upper  river 
to  keep  well  toward  the  left  bank,  reassured  us  somewhat ; 
but  still  we  had  double  complements  of  men  at  both  bow 
and  stern  oars  to  be  used  in  case  of  emergency.  A  little 
bit  uncertain  at  one  point  in  regard  to  our  position  with 
respect  to  the  rapids  we  made  hasty  inquiries  at  a  small 
Indian  village  near  which  we  drifted,  and  its  occupants 
told  us  that  we  had  passed  the  rapids  about  half  a  mile 
back,  the  natives  pointing  to  an  insignificant  reef  of  low 
white  bowlders  tliat  jutted  out  a  short  distance  from  the 
right  bank      They  were  certainly  the  mildest  rapids 


THROUGH  THE  LOWER  RAMPARTS.  299 

had  ever  seen.  During  higher  water,  when  the  current 
is  swifter  and  the  reef  just  j)rojects  from  the  swift  water, 
these  rapidsmayapj)ear  more  formidable,  but  if  this  part 
of  tlie  river  had  been  wholly  unexplored  until  our 
arrival,  I  doubt  seriously  whether  we  should  ever  have 
observed  them.  At  this  point  the  river  is  only  about 
two  hundred  and  fifty  yards  wide,  and  although  the  cur- 
rent noticeably  increases,  its  increase  can  not,  I  think,  be 
in  any  proportional  to  the  vast  volume  of  water  the  river 
must  carry  through  such  a  narrow  channel ;  the  stream 
must,  therefore,  be  unusually  deep.  This  part  of  the 
lower  ramparts,  which  may  be  assumed  to  be  the  ' '  back- 
bone "  or  summit  of  the  chain  of  high  hills  through  which 
the  river  has  cut  its  way,  is  very  picturesque,  and  had  it 
not  been  for  the  squally  weather  and  the  black  clouds 
that  were  lowering  over  the  crests,  I  should  have  lingered 
awhile  so  as  to  procure  a  few  photographs  of  the  scenery. 
Gloster's  sketches  served  our  i)urpose  too  well  in  such 
places  to  think  of  delaying  very  long  for  this  object  at 
any  point  of  the  jouAey,  and  one  of  them  is  shown  on 
page  295.  I  think  it  would  be  a  fair  estimate  to  say 
that  the  hills  of  the  upper  ramparts  in  their  highest  ele- 
vations are  nearly  twice  the  height  of  the  corresponding 
ones  in  the  lower  ramparts. 

We  passed  the  rapids  of  the  ramparts  at  2:10  p.m., 
and  the  Indian  village  below  ten  minutes  later.  This  is 
called  Senati's  (Senatee's)  village  upon  previous  maps, 
and  at  the  date  of  our  arrival  was  made  up  of  two  well- 
worn  tents  and  four  birch-bark  houses,  the  whole  contain- 
ing from  forty  to  fifty  souls.  Over  half  a  dozen  canoes 
put  o9f  from  the  village  and  were  soon  paddling  around 
us,  whereupon  a  lively  competition  ensued  for  sui3plying 


300  ALONG  ALASKA'S  GREAT  RIVER. 

US  with  dried  and  smolied  salmon.  It  was  at  this  village 
that  1  first  noticed  the  round-rimmed  hand  net  spoken 
of  in  a  former  chapter  as  appearing  on  the  lower 
river.  Their  handles  of  ten  and  twelve  feet  In  length 
may  appear  to  contradict  my  conjecture  as  to  the  unus- 
ual dex3th  of  the  river  here,  or  the  Indians  may  go  fur- 
ther down  to  fish,  as  we  saw  large  numbers  of  their 
caches  perched  along  the  right  bank  some  distance 
below.  Our  camp  was  a  forced  one  that  evening, — the 
5th — as  we  got  stuck  on  a  sandsi)it  at  the  head  of  an 
island  where  we  had  to  make  "  a  rubber-boot  camp"  as 
the  men  designated  any  place  where  we  grounded  in 
shoal  water  so  far  from  the  shore  that  rubber-boots  had 
to  be  put  on  in  order  to  carry  the  cooking  and  camping 
effects  to  the  selected  spot.  Cold  and  stormy  as  the  day 
had  been  the  mosquitoes  sent  a  fair  representation  to 
inform  us  that  we  had  not  been  deserted  by  them.  From 
Camp  47  to  Camp  48,  Mr.  Homan  figured  the  day's  run 
of  nearly  twelve  hours'  uninterrupted  drift  at  but 
twenty-seven  miles,  and  this  in  the  narrowest  portion  of 
the  ramparts,  where  we  had  hoped  the  current  would 
increase.  I  was  much  inclined  to  think  that  our  prog- 
ress had  been  underestimated  four  or  five  miles,  and 
that  a  desire  to  coincide  with  Captain  Raymond' s  maps 
had  marred  an  otherwise  almost  faultless  reckoning. 

Shortly  after  noon  on  the  Cth — having  started  at  half- 
past  eight — we  passed  the  mouth  of  the  Tanana,  having 
found  one  more  island  on  this  stretch  of  the  river  than 
is  mapped  by  Raymond.  A  half-dozen  more  islands  in 
many  parts  of  the  wide  river  or  even  half  a  hundred  more 
or  less  at  any  point  in  the  fiat-lands  might  have  escaped 
detection  on  any  previous  map,  but  here  the  shores  are  so 


THROUGH  THE  LOWER  RAMPARTS.  301 

bold  and  the  islands  so  few  and  conspicuous  tliat  they 
can  hardly  escape  casual  observation,  and  an  error  of 
even  one  upon  the  map  would  attract  notice. 

The  Tanana  River,  to  which  I  have  referred,  is  the 
largest  tributary  of  the  Yukon,  and  is  fully  the  peer  of 
the  parent  stream,  at  the  point  of  confluence.  Were  it 
not  for  the  fact  that  the  geographical  features  which 
must  necessarily  limit  the  drainage  area  of  each  preclude 
the  Tanana  basin  from  equaling  that  of  the  Yukon,  a 
casual  observer  standing  at  the  junction  of  the  two  might 
well  be  puzzled  to  know  which  of  the  two  was  entitled 
to  be  regarded  as  the  main  stream.  The  Yukon  River 
at  this  point  is  a  little  over  thirteen  hundred  miles  in 
length  from  its  head,  and  a  glance  at  a  map  will  show 
that  in  its  great  northward  bend  it  has  inclosed  the 
Tanana,  which  would  have  to  make  a  great  many  wind- 
ings within  this  area  in  order  to  equal  the  Yukon  in 
length,  a  case  which  we  are  not  justified  in  assuming. 
There  is  a  rough  method,  however,  of  arriving  at  its  length, 
according  to  the  story  told  me  by  an  old  trader  on  the 
river,  upon  whose  word  I  can  rely.  With  one  white 
companion,  and  some  Indians  as  packers,  he  crossed  from 
the  trading  station  at  Belle  Isle,  near  Johnny's  village 
or  Klat-ol-Tdin.,  in  a  southwest  direction,  over  the  hills 
that  divide  the  Yukon  and  Tanana  basins,  ascending  a 
tributary  of  the  former  and  descending  one  of  the  latter, 
the  journey  occupying  two  or  three  weeks,  after  which 
the  Indians  were  sent  back.  A  boat  was  constructed 
from  the  hide  of  a  moose,  resembling  the  "  bull-boat" 
of  the  western  frontiersmen,  and  in  this  they  drifted  to 
the  river' s  mouth.  At  the  point  where  the  two  travelers 
first  sighted  the  Tanana,  the  trader  estimated  it  to  be 


302  ALONG  ALASKA'S  GREAT  RIVER. 

about  twelve  hundred  yards  wide,  or  very  nearly  three- 
quarters  of  a  mile,  and  as  they  were  floating  fifteen  or  six- 
teen hours  a  day  for  ten  days,  on  a  current  whose  speed 
he  estimated  at  six  or  seven  miles  an  hour,  it  being  m  uch 
swifter  than  the  Yukon  at  any  point  as  high  as  Belle 
Isle,  my  informant  computed  his  progress  at  from  ninety 
to  a  hundred  miles  a  day  ;  or  from  nine  hundred  to  a 
thousand  miles  along  the  Tanana,  He  estimates  the 
whole  length  of  the  river  by  combining  the  result  of  his 
observation  with  Indian  rex)orts,  at  from  ten  to  twelve 
hundred  miles.  Fear  of  the  Tanana  Indians  appears  to 
be  the  motive  for  the  rapid  rate  of  travel  through  their 
country,  and  although  in  general  a  very  friendly 
tribe  to  encounter  away  from  home,  they  have  always 
opposed  any  exploration  of  their  country.  The  trader's 
companion  had  suggested  and  promoted  the  journey  as 
a  quasi  scientific  expedition,  and  he  collected  a  few 
skulls  of  the  natives  and  some  botanical  specimens,  but  no 
maijs^or  notes  were  made  of  the  trip,  and  it  was  afterward 
said  by  the  Alaska  Company's  employes  that  the  explorer 
was  an  envoy  of  the  ' '  opposition, ' '  as  the  old  traders 
called  the  new  company,  sent  to  obtain  information 
regarding  the  country  as  a  trading  district.  Allowing  a 
fair  margin  for  all  possible  error,  I  think  the  river  is  from 
eight  hundred  to  nine  hundred  miles  long,  not  a  single 
portion  of  which  can  be  said  to  have  been  mapped.*  This 
would  probably  make  the  Tanana,  if  I  am  right  in  my 
estimate,  the  longest  wholly  unexplored  river  in  the 
world,  certainly  the  longest  of  the  western  continent. 

As  we  drifted  by  its  mouth  we  could  only  form  an 
approximate  idea  of  its  width,  which  was  apparently  two 
or  three  miles,  including  all  channels  and  islands,  which 


*  I  have  smce  learned  that  Mr.  Bates  made  a  map  and  took  notes 


THROUGH  THE  LOWER  RAMPARTS.  305 

may  be  of  the  nature  of  a  delta.  It  seemed  to  be  very 
swift  and  brought  down  quantities  of  uprooted  drift  tim- 
ber of  large  dimensions  as  compared  with  that  brought  by 
the  Yukon.  Looking  back  it  resembled  a  suddenly 
exposed  inland  lake  on  the  borders  of  the  main  stream, 
and  its  swift  waters  so  overwhelmed  those  of  the  Yukon 
that  a  great  slackening  took  place  in  the  latter  near 
their  confluence,  forming  a  sluggish  pool  into  which  we 
helplessly  drifted.  All  these  circumstances  give  to  the 
Tanana  the  appearance  of  equality  with  the  more  import- 
ant stream.  Once  in  its  current  we  went  skimming  along 
at  a  rapid  rate  that  revealed  the  force  of  the  new  stream. 

At  1:40  P.M.  we  passed  an  Indian  village  of  four  tents 
and  two  birch-bark  houses,  containing  from  twenty  to 
twenty-tive  souls.  Among  the  canoemen  who  visited  us 
was  a  half-breed  Indian,  very  neatly  and  jauntily 
dressed,  who  spoke  English  quite  well,  and  whom  we 
hired  to  pilot  us  to  the  trading  station  at  Nuklakayet, 
the  channel  to  which  was  very  blind,  and  difficult  to 
follow,  as  we  had  been  told  at  old  Fort  Yukon.  An 
hour  later  a  large  native  village  was  passed  on  the  north 
bank,  apparently  deserted ;  and  another  hour  brought 
us  to  the  "opposition"  store  of  the  old  Northern 
Trading  Company,  around  which  was  grouped  quite  an 
extensive  collection  of  Indian  cabins,  graves,  caches.,  and 
other  vestiges  of  habitation.  The  old  store  was  nearly 
demolished,  while  the  once  thriving  Indian  village  had 
hardly  a  sign  of  life  in  it. 

At  half -past  four  o'clock  we  passed  two  or  three  small 
Indian  camps  on  the  upper  ends  of  some  contiguous 
islands,  upon  which  they  were  spending  the  summer  in 
fishing  for  salmon.     At  the  upper  ends  of  these  islands 


bO?  ALONG  ALASKA'S  GREAT  RIVER. 

tliey  build  oblique  weirs  or  wicker-work  wing-dam^,  con- 
verging to  a  certain  point,  at  which  a  large  wicker- work 
net  is  placed,  and  into  the  latter  the  salmon  are  directed 
and  there  caught.  These  wicker-work  nets  are  similar  to 
those  heretofore  spoken  of  as  having  been  seen  scattered 
along  the  beach  in  front  of  a  small  house  just  after  enter- 
ing the  ramparts,  and  some  of  them  are  so  large  that  a 
man  might  walk  into  their  open  mouths,  while  they  are 
probably  a  score  of  feet  in  length.  These,  together  with 
the  native  hand-nets,  already  spoken  of,  are  the  only 
appliances  I  saw  used  for  catching  fish  ;  but  they  serve 
amply  to  supply  the  natives  throughout  the  year,  and 
to  give  their  numerous  dogs  a  salmon  apiece  every 
day. 

A  little  after  six  o'clock  we  sighted  the  Nuklakayet 
trading  station,  and  after  much  hard  labor  succeeded  in 
making  a  landing  there,  for  the  channel  was  most  tor- 
tuous, and  without  our  Indian  pilot  we  should  probably 
have  missed  the  place  altogether,  so  much  dodging 
through  winding  ways  and  around  obscure  islands  was 
necessary.  Mr.  Harper,  whom  we  found  in  charge,  was 
the  only  white  man  present,  althongh  Mr.  McQuestion, 
and  another  trader  who  was  down  the  river  at  the  time 
(Mr.  Mayo),  make  the  station  their  headquarters.  It  is 
the  furthest  inland  trading  post  at  present  maintained 
by  the  Alaska  Commercial  Comi)any — or  any  other  cor- 
poration on  the  river — although  there  were  formerly 
others  of  which  mention  has  been  made,  but  an  occasional 
visit  of  the  river  steamer  has  taken  their  place.  Nukla- 
kayet  was  once  on  the  flat  bottom  land  at  the  junction  of 
the  Tanana  and  the  Yukon,  and  was  considered  a  sort  of 
neutral  ground  for  the  British  traders  from  above  and 


THROUGH  THE  LOWER  RAMPARTS.  309 

the  Russians  below,  there  being  at  that  iinie  summer 
trading  camjDs  only  in  existence. 

Here  Mr,  Harper  had  attempted  a  small  garden,  which 
is  certainly  the  most  northerly  garden  existing  in  the  ter- 
ritory of  the  United  States,  if  not  in  the  western  conti- 
nent ;  it  being  eighty-five  geographical  or  ninety-eight 
statute  miles  from  the  Arctic  circle,  or  within  a  couple 
of  days'  journey  of  the  j^olar  regions.  The  garden  is 
shown  in  the  illustration  taken  from  a  photograph  made 
by  Mr.  Homan.  Its  principal  vegetables  Avere  turnips, 
the  largest  of  which  raised  that  year  weighed  a  little 
over  six  pounds.  They  seemed  particularly  crisp  and 
acceptable  to  our  palates,  most  of  us  eating  them  raw, 
d  la  Sellers.  I  never  knew  before  that  turnips  were 
so  palatable.  A  few  other  hardy  plants  and  veget- 
ables completed  the  contents  of  the  garden.  Gar- 
dening in  this  country,  however,  must  be  greatly  im- 
peded by  the  swarms  of  mosquitoes,  wdiile  agricul- 
ture on  a  considerable  scale  would  be  retarded  by  the 
wet  and  mossy  character  of  the  soil.  Mr.  Harper 
has  chosen  a  south-eastern  slope  directly  on  the  river 
bank,  and  here  the  immediate  drainage  has  helped  him 
to  overcome  the  latter  obstacle  to  the  success  of  his 
garden. 

We  inspected  the  "barka,"  or  decked  schooner  of  ten 
or  twelve  tons,  and  I  decided  to  take  her,  although  fear- 
ing that  we  might  find  many  more  discomforts  in  her 
cramped  quarters,  than  upon  our  old  raft. 

Here,  too,  the  old  raft  was  laid  away  in  peace,  perhaps 
to  become  kindling-wood  for  the  trader's  stove.  Rough 
and  rude  as  it  was,  I  had  a  friendliness  for  the  uncouth 
vessel,  which  had  done  such  faithful  service,  and  borne 


310  ALONG  ALASKA'S  GREAT  RIVER. 

US  safely  through  so  many  trials,  surprising  us  with 
its  good  qualities.  It  had  explored  a  larger  portion 
of  the  great  river  than  any  more  pretentious  craft, 
and  seemed  to  deserve  a  better  fate. 


M 

W 

O 

> 

'n 

H 

a 

m 

H 

aj 

K 

r) 

H 

a. 

P- 

W 

o 

12^ 

0 

s* 

O 

M 

>< 

M 

K" 

H 

O 

m 

d 

W 

e-i 

O 

S; 

cj 

M» 

5^ 

B 
2) 

«1 

1= 

,^-^^ 

W 

I— I 

p 

oo 

1^ 

o 

CO 

rt 

K 

t-i 

« 

CHAPTER  XII. 


DOWN   THE   EiVER  AND   HOME. 


INDIAN      OUT-BOOK     ol  N     COVERING 
ON  THE   LOWER  YUKON    RIVER. 


HE  Tth  of  August  we  remained 
over  pumping  out  the  bilge- 
water  from  the  "  barka "  and 
transferring  freight  from  the 
raft  to  the  schooner,  and  making 
use  of  our  photographic  appar- 
atus. 

At  Nuklakayet  the  Eskimo 
dogs  begin  to  apj)ear,  forty  or 
fifty  being  owned  by  the  sta- 
tion, the  majority  of  which  Mr.  Harper  feared  he  should 
have  to  kill  to  save  the  expense  of  feeding  them  through 
the  winter.  As  each  of  them  ate  a  salmon  a  day,  it  will 
be  seen  that  this  cost  was  no  small  item.  I  remembered 
the  trouble  I  had  once  experienced  in  obtaining  even  a 
smaller  number  of  these  useful  creatures  ;  a  difficulty 
which  many  another  Arctic  traveler  has  encountered, 
while  here  was  a  pack  about  to  be  slaughtered  that 
would  well  suffice  for  any  sledging  party.  The  Eskimo 
dogs  of  Alaska  are  larger,  finer-looking,  and  a  much 
more  distinct  variety  than  those  of  North  Hudson's  Bay, 
King  William  Land  country,  and  adjacent  districts  ;  a 
description  of  any  one  Alaska  dog  answering  nearly  for 
all,  while  among  the  others  I  have  named,  there  was  the 
widest  difference  in  size,  shape  and  general  appearance. 


314  ALONG  ALASKA'S  GREAT  RIVER. 

From  all  I  could  learn,  and  I  was  careful  to  inquire  of 
their  capabilities,  I  do  not  think  the  Alaskan  Eskimo 
dogs  can  compare  with  the  others  in  endurance,  whether 
as  regards  fatigue,  exposure  or  fasting.  For  all  the 
purposes  of  men  who  are  never  in  fear  of  starvation,  I 
think  it  more  than  probable  that  the  Alaskan  Eskimo 
dog  would  be  found  superior  on  short  journeys  and  trips 
between  points  where  food  is  procurable  ;  but  for  the 
use  of  explorers,  or  of  any  one  who  may  be  exposed  to 
the  danger  of  famine,  the  others  are  undoubtedly  far 
superior.  When  I  told  some  of  the  Yukon  River  traders, 
who  had  spent  much  of  their  lives  in  the  native  country 
of  these  dogs,  of  some  of  the  feats  of  endurance  of  the 
Hudson  Bay  species,  they  seemed  to  think,  judging  from 
their  countenances,  that  I  was  giving  them  a  choice  selec- 
tion from  the  Arctic  edition  of  Munchausen. 

Eskimo  boats,  or  those  in  which  the  wooden  frames 
are  covered  with  sealskin,  are  also  first  noticed  at  this 
place  ;  although  the  Eskimo  people  themselves  are  not 
found  as  regular  inhabitants  until  Anvik  has  been 
passed,  some  twenty  or  thirty  miles.  I  saw  both  kinds, 
the  smaller  variety,  or  klak,  in  native  language,  and  the 
large  kind,  or  oomien^  of  the  Eskimo.  An  attempt  had 
evidently  been  made  to  fashion  the  bow  and  stern  of  the 
latter  into  nautical  "lines,''  with  a  result  much  more 
visible  than  with  those  of  Hudson's  Straits  and  Bay. 

On  Wednesday  the  8th  of  August,  we  got  away  late, 
and  there  being  a  slight  breeze  behind  us,  we  set  the  jib 
— the  only  sail  with  the  boat — and  were  agreeably  sur- 
prised at  the  manner  in  which  our  new  acquisition  cut 
through  the  water,  with  even  this  little  help  ;  the  sail 
assisting  her  probably  a  couple  of  miles  an  hour,  and, 


DOWN  THE  RIVER  AND  HOME.  315 

better  than  all,  making  it  very  easy  work  to  keep  in  the 
strongest  currents. 

Indian  villages  or  camps  were  seen  occasionally  on  the 
upper  ends  of  islands,  with  their  fish-traps  set  above 
them,  and  from  some  of  these  we  obtained  fresh  salmon. 
As  the  trading  stations  are  approached,  these  Indian 
camj^s  increase,  the  largest  being  generally  clustered 
around  the  station  itself,  while  a  diminution  both  in 
numbers  and  size  is  perceptible  in  proportion  to  the  dis- 
tance from  these  centers.  As  many  of  these  camps  are 
but  temporary  summer  affairs,  which  are  abandoned  late 
in  the  fall,  this  clustering  around  the  white  men' s  stores 
becomes  more  marked  at  that  period.  That  night's 
camping,  however,  plainly  showed  us  that  the  "  barka  " 
was  not  as  good  as  the  raft  for  the  purpose  of  approach- 
ing the  shore,  it  drawing  about  three  feet  to  the  raft' s 
twenty  inches,  so  that  ''rubber-boot  camps"  might  be 
quite  numerous  in  the  future.  Worst  of  all,  our  rubber 
boots  were  but  little  protection  in  three  feet  of  water,  and 
filling  to  the  top,  became  more  of  an  impediment  than 
otherwise  in  carrying  our  effects  to  the  shore.  Most  of 
our  camping  places  were  now  selected  with  reference  to 
steep  banks  that  had  at  least  three  feet  of  water  at  their 
foot,  yet  were  not  so  high  but  that  a  long  gang-plank 
could  reach  the  crest. 

On  the  9tli,  we  started  early  with  a  light  wind  in  our 
face  that  within  an  hour  had  become  a  furious  gale,  with 
white  capped  waves  running  over  the  broad  river  and 
dashing  over  our  boat.  We  ran  into  shoal  water,  droj^ped 
anchor,  and  tried  to  protect  ourselves  by  crawling  in 
under  the  leaking  decks.  Here  we  remained  cooped  up 
until  four  o'  clock  in  the  afternoon,  when  the  gale  abat- 


316  ALONG  ALASKA'S  GREAT  RIVER. 

ing  somewhat  we  pulled  up  anchor  and  drifted  for  six 
or  seven  miles,  going  into  camp  at  eight  o'clock,  having 
made  eight  and  a-half  miles  for  the  day.  After  camping, 
the  gale  died  down  to  a  calm,  and  allowed  us  the  full 
benefit  of  the  mosquitoes.  Either  we  were  getting  used 
to  their  attacks,  or  the  season  had  affected  the  insects, 
for  they  api)eared  less  numerous  than  on  the  upper  river. 

The  10th  was  another  day  starting  well  with  a  favorable 
breeze  and  ending  with  a  heavy  head-wind.  That  day 
we  passed  the  Newicargut  and  still  saw  many  Indian 
cami)s  where  fishing  for  salmon  was  going  on. 

The  lltli  was  an  aggravating  rei^etition  of  the  events  of 
the  two  preceding  days.  That  day  we  passed  the  Meloze- 
cargut,  and  camped  opposite  the  mouth  of  the  Yuko- 
cargut.  *"Cargut"  is  the  native  name  for  river,  and 
Sooncargut,  Melozecargut,  and  Tosecargut,  have  been 
changed  to  Sunday-cargut,  Monday-cargut,  and  Tuesday- 
cargut  by  the  English  speaking  traders  of  the  district. 

Another  object  now  influenced  our  selection  of  camps 
for  the  night,  and  that  was  to  choose  a  spot  with  few  or 
no  islands  in  its  front,  so  that  the  descending  river 
steamer  ' '  Yukon ' '  could  not  pass  us  while  in  camp  by 
taking  a  channel  hidden  from  our  view. 

Shortly  after  midnight  a  steamer's  whistling  was  heard 
far  down  the  river,  and  after  a  great  deal  of  anxiety  for 
fear  it  was  the  "Yukon  "  that  had  passed  us  unnoticed, 
we  heard  the  puffing  approach  nearer  and  nearer,  and 
soon  saw  the  light  of  an  ascending  river  steamer.  It 
proved  to  be  a  very  diminutive  but  powerful  little  thing 
which  Mr.   Mayo  w^as  taking  to  K'uklakayet  for  the 

*  Spelled  Chargut  on  Mr.  Homan's  map. 


DOWN  THE  RIVER  AND  HOME.  317 

winter.  Two  brothers  of  tlie  name  of  Scheffelin,  the 
elder  of  whom  is  well  known  in  frontier  mining  history 
as  the  discoverer  of  the  celebrated  Tombstone  district  of 
Arizona,  having  amassed  a  fortune  in  that  territory, 
decided  to  try  the  mining  prospects  of  the  Yukon  and 
its  tributaries,  and  the  prior  year  had  chartered  a  vessel 
in  San  Francisco  on  which  they  put  this  little  river 
steamer,  and  sailed  for  the  Yukon.  Here  a  year  was 
spent  in  prospecting,  and  although ' '  ounce  diggings*  were 
struck ' '  on  or  near  the  Melozecargut,  yet  all  the  sur- 
roundings made  "  Ed  "  Scheffelin  think  it  would  not  pay 
to  put  capital  in  such  an  undertaking,  although  it  might 
remunerate  the  individual  effort  of  the  itinerant  miner 
whose  capital  is  his  pick-ax,  pan  and  shovel.  Early  in 
the  spring  the  Scheffelins  got  a  letter  from  Arizona  which 
determined  their  return  to  the  United  States,  and  they 
had  left  the  river  a  few  weeks  previously,  the  three 
traders  at  Nuklakayet  buying  their  little  river  steamer, 
which  the  former  owners  had  named  the  "  New  Racket." 
The  wages  of  these  traders  had  been  reduced  by  the 
Alaska  Company  in  order  to  contract  expenses,  so  that 
the  comx3any  might  make  a  small  percentage  on  the  large 
capital  invested,  until  the  traders  found  themselves  with- 
out sufficient  means  to  live  upon,  and  they  had  bought 
the  boat  intending  to  organize  a  small  trading  company 
of  their  own  upon  the  river  unless  their  former  wages 
were  restored.  The  Scheffelin  mining  expedition  was  an 
expensive  one,  and  remarkably  well  ' '  outfitted ' '  in  every 
necessary  department.  The  large  number  of  Eskimo 
dogs  at  N'uklakayet  had  been  selected  by  him  for  the 

*  Diggings  that  will  pay  an  ounce  of  gold  per  man  a  day,  or,  as 
gold  usually  runs,  from  |10  to  $20  per  day. 


318  ALONG  ALASKA'S  GREAT  RIVER. 

purpose  of  sledging  expeditions  in  winter  time.  He 
thought  seriously  of  invading  the  prospective  gold  fields 
of  Africa  as  his  next  venture,  showing  plainly  the  roving 
spirit  which  had  served  him  so  well  in  the  arid  deserts 
of  Arizona.  No  one  could  meet  him  anywhere  without 
wishing  him  good  luck  in  his  wild  adventures,  for  he  was 
the  XDrince  of  good  fellows. 

The  "  New  Racket"  left  us  very  early  in  the  morning, 
having  tied  up  alongside  of  camp  the  night  before,  while 
we  started  about  the  usual  time,  an  hour  after  daylight. 
About  3:30  P.M.  that  day — the  12th — we  passed  a  very 
considerable  Indian  village  called  Sakadelontin,  com- 
posed of  a  number  of  birch-bark  houses  and  some  ten  or 
twelve  caches,  and  containing  probably  fifty  or  sixty 
people.  It  is  one  of  the  few  large  villages  to  be  found 
at  any  great  distance  from  a  trading  station.  Before 
reaching  it  we  observed  a  number  of  native  coffins 
perched  uj)  in  the  trees,  the  first  and  only  ones  we  saw 
so  situated  on  the  river.  All  day  on  the  12th  and  13th 
a  heavy  gale  from  the  south  made  even  drifting  difficult. 
Upon  a  couple  of  northward-trending  stretches  of  the 
river  that  were  encountered  on  the  13th  we  set  the  jib, 
and  spun  along  at  the  rate  of  six  or  seven  miles  an  hour. 
At  one  place  where  we  were  held  against  the  high  banks 
by  the  force  of  the  gale,  we  went  ashore,  and  much  to 
our  surprise  found  a  most  prolific  huckleberry  patch, 
where  we  all  regaled  ourselves  as  long  as  the  wind  lasted. 
These  berries  were  quite  common  along  this  part  of  the 
river,  and  nearly  every  canoe  that  put  off  from  a  camp  or 
village  would  have  one  or  two  trays  or  bowls  of  wood  or 
bircli-bark  full  of  them,  which  the  natives  wanted  to 
trade  for  tea  or  tobacco.     We  camped  in  what  is  called 


DOWN  THE  RIVER  AND  HOME.  321 

by  the  river  steamer  men  the  "cut-off  slough,"  just 
south  of  the  mouth  of  the  Koyukuk  Eiver,  a  northern 
tributary  of  considerable  dimensions,  which  empties  into 
the  Yukon  at  a  point  where  it  makes  a  short  but  bold 
bend  to  the  north,  the  "slough"  making  the  route  about 
one-iif  th  shorter.  The  mouth  of  the  tributary  is  marked 
by  the  Koyukuk  Sopka  (hill),  a  high  eminence  which 
is  visible  for  many  miles  around.  This  feature  is  char- 
acteristic of  this  part  of  the  Yukon  Valley,  isolated  hills 
and  peaks  often  rising  precipitously  from  a  perfectly 
level  country. 

The  14tli  saw  us  make  Nulato,  quite  an  historical  place 
on  the  river.  It  was  the  furthest  inland  trading  station 
of  the  old  Russian- American  Fur  Company  at  the  time 
of  our  iDurchase  of  Alaska,  and  had  been  used  as  such 
by  them,  under  different  names,  for  nearly  a  quarter  of 
a  century.  It  was  occupied  by  the  traders  of  the  Alaska 
Company  until  a  year  or  two  before  my  arrival,  as  well 
as  by  traders  of  the  "opposition,"  when  the  killing  of 
one  of  the  latter  led  to  trouble  with  the  Indians,  so  that 
both  companies  withdrew. 

Many  years  ago,  one  cold  winter  night,  the  Russians 
of  the  station  were  massacred,  along  with  a  number  of 
friendly  Indians  who  had  assembled  around  the  station. 
In  this  disaster  fell  an  English  naval  officer,  Lieuten- 
ant Barnard  by  name,  who  was  looking  for  traces  of  Sir 
John  Franklin,  even  in  this  out-of-the-way  corner  of  the 
earth.  A  res]3ectable  head-board  marks  his  grave,  but 
the  high  grass  and  willows  have  buried  it  almost  out  of 
sight. 

Here  also  lies  buried  a  locally  noted  Russian  charac- 
ter of  hard  reputation,  Kerchinikoff  by  name,  whose 


322  ALONG  ALASKA'S  GREAT  RIVER. 

story  was  told  me  by  more  than  one  of  the  traders,  who 
had  known  him  and  heard  of  his  doings  in  his  adven- 
turous career.  It  was  romancingly  said  by  way  of  illus- 
trating his  prowess  among  the  native  tribes,  that  if  the 
skulls  of  his  Indian  victims  had  been  heaped  together  in 
his  grave  they  would  not  only  till  it  but  enough  would 
have  remained  to  erect  a  high  monument  to  his  mem- 
ory. He  died  at  a  great  age,  having  been  from  his  very 
youth  a  terror  to  all  the  tribes  on  the  lower  river,  but 
wholly  in  the  interests,  as  he  interpreted  them,  of  the 
great  iron  monopoly  to  which  he  belonged.  Many 
years  ago  the  few  Russian  traders  of  the  Andreavsky 
station  had  been  massacred  by  the  Indians.  Kerchini- 
koff  asked  for  protection  and  a  sufficient  force  to  punish 
the  murderers,  and  those  at  Nulato  transmitted  his  re- 
quest to  the  headquarters  of  the  Russian  Fur  Com]3any 
at  far-off  Sitka,  but  did  not  receive  even  the  courtesy  of 
an  answer.  With  one  or  two  companions  he  put  a  couple 
of  old  rusty  Russian  carronades  in  the  prow  of  his  trading 
boat, — the  identical  one  on  which  we  were  drifting  down 
the  river,  and  which  he  himself  had  built — and  in  iieu  of 
proper  ammunition,  which  he  was  unable  to  get,  he 
loaded  his  guns  with  spikes,  hinges  and  whatever  scraps 
of  iron  and  lead  he  could  pick  up  around  Michaeloffski, 
and  appearing  suddenly  before  the  Indian  village,  de- 
manded the  surrender  of  the  murderers.  The  natives 
gathered  in  a  great  crowd  on  the  shore  of  the  river, 
laughing  derisively  at  his  apparently  absurd  demands, 
having  never  even  heard  of  such  a  thing  as  a  cannon. 
Spears  were  hurled  and  arrows  shot  at  the  boat,  which 
thereupon  slowly  approached,  having  its  cannon  pointed 
at  the  dense  crowd.     When  an  arrow  buried  itself  in 


DOWN  THE  RIVER  AND  HOME.  323 

the  prow,  the  terrible  rex)ort  of  the  two  ^arronades 
made  answer,  and  about  a  score  of  Indians  Were  stretched 
upon  the  beach,  while  the  wounded  and  ^^anic-stricken 
fled  in  great  numbers  to  the  woods  for  protection.  From 
that  day  not  a  single  drop  of  white  man's  blood  was  ever 
shed  by  any  savages  ui^on  the  lower  river,  until  Kerchin- 
ikoff  himself,  while  lying  on  his  sledge  in  a  drunken 
stupor,  was  stabbed  to  death  almost  within  a  stone's 
throw  of  the  graves  of  those  whom  he  had  avenged. 

We  landed  at  Upper  Nulato  (the  "opposition"  store), 
and  here  encountered  a  half-breed  who  spoke  tolerable 
English,  and  who  pointed  out  the  places  just  men- 
tioned. 

"Hello,  where  you  come ? "  was  his  first  question,  to 
which  we  briefly  replied,  one  of  the  members  of  the 
party  remarking  it  was  quite  windy  hereabouts,  refer- 
ring to  the  three  or  four  days'  gale  we  had  had. 

"  Allee  time  like  that  now,"  was  his  cheerful  answer. 
This  neatly-dressed  young  fellow  took  me  down  to  his 
caclie.,  and  seemed  especially  delighted  in  showing  me 
his  new  "parka,"  or  reindeer  coat,  for  winter  wear.  It 
was  one  of  the  highly-prized  "  spotted  "  j^arA'a.?.  The 
spotted  reindeer  are  bred  only  in  Asia,  and  their  hides— 
for  the  tribe  owning  them  will  never  allow  the  live  animals 
to  be  taken  away — find  their  way  into  Alaska  by  way  of 
Bering's  Straits  by  means  of  intertribal  barter,  while 
numbers  are  brought  by  the  Alaska  Company  from  Rus- 
sian ports  on  that  side,  and  are  used  as  trading  material 
with  such  tribes  as  wear  reindeer  clothing.  I  offered  a 
good  price  for  this  particular  "parka,"  but  the  owner 
would  not  part  with  it,  as  they  are  especially  valuable 
and  tolerably  rare  at  this  distance  up  the  river,  and  only 


32i  ALONG  ALASKA'S  GREAT  RIVER. 

the  wealthiest  Indians  can  afford  to  buy  them.  He  told 
me  this  was  the  only  one  at  Nulato  at  the  time,  but  I  did 
not  know  how  much  faith  might  be  put  in  the  statement. 
Bad  as  the  weather  was,  we  got  a  good  series  of  observa- 
tions on  the  sun,  while  at  Nulato,.on  the  afternoon  of 
the  14th. 

On  the  15th  the  old  familiar  gale  from  ahead  i^ut  in 
its  appearance  as  we  started  in  the  morning,  but  to  every 
body's  great  surprise  it  hauled  to  the  rear  in  the  middle 
of  the  afternoon,  and  when  we  camped  at  8:20  p.  m.,  hav- 
ing used  our  jib  in  sailing,  an  Indian  from  a  village  near 
by  told  us  the  place  was  called  Kaltag ;  so  that  we  had 
made  an  extraordinary  run  under  all  the  circumstances. 
Indian  villages  were  quite  numerous  during  the  day. 
About  Kaltag  occurs  the  last  point  on  the  river  at  which 
high  ground  comes  down  to  the  water's  edge  on  the  left 
side,  and  for  the  rest  of  the  voyage,  a  distance  of  some 
five  hundred  miles,  precipitous  banks  only  are  found  on 
the  right  side,  while  the  country  to  the  left  resembles 
the  flat-lands  seen  further  back,  but  the  horizon  is  much 
more  limited  than  that  of  the  flat-lands,  hills  appearing 
in  the  background,  which  finally  become  isolated  peaks, 
or  short  broken  ranges. 

The  morning  of  the  16th  ushered  in  a  heavy  gale  from 
ahead,  accompanied  by  a  deluge  of  showers,  and  as  the 
camp,  57,  was  fortunately  situated  at  a  point  where  all 
the  channels  were  united,  so  that  the  river  steamer  could 
not  pass  unnoticed,  I  determined  to  remain  over. 

It  would  be  as  tiresome  to  my  readers  as  it  was  aggra- 
vating to  us,  to  repeat  in  detail  the  old  story  of  our  start- 
ing with  a  fair  wind,  its  change  to  a  gale  that  kept  us 
against  the  banks,  and  of  our  passing  a  few  Indian  towns. 


DOWN  THE  RIVER  AND  HOME.  325 

This  continuous  drifting  against  a  head  wind  taught 
us  one  singular  thing,  however,  viz.  :  that  our  boat  would 
drift  faster  against  this  wind  when  turned  broadside  to 
it  and  exposing  the  greatest  surface  to  its  action,  than 
when  facing  it  bow  or  stern  on  and  with  a  minimum  of 
exposed  surface  ;  this  fact  being  the  very  reverse  of  what 
we  had  supposed,  indeed,  we  had  endeavored  to  avoid 
this  very  position.  Thereafter  we  kept  the"barka" 
broadside  to  the  head  wind,  a  very  difficult  undertaking, 
which  required  hard  and  constant  work  at  the  steering 
oar  ;  but  the  mile  or  mile  and  a-half  an  hour  gained  over 
the  vessel' s  drift  was  well  worth  it.  I  spoke  of  this  after- 
ward to  the  river  men  and  found  they  had  long  since 
anticipated  me  by  a  much  easier  contrivance,  viz.  :  by 
tying  an  anchor  or  a  large  camp-kettle  full  of  stones  and 
suspending  it  from  the  end  of  the  jib-boom  so  that  it 
would  trail  in  the  water.  This  method,  a  number  of  them 
assured  me,  would  have  saved  our  work  at  the  steering 
oar  which  we  rigged  at  the  stern. 

The  18th  and  19th  we  fought  our  way  down  the  river, 
inch  by  inch,  against  the  wind.  The  latter  night  the 
storm  culminated  in  a  perfect  hurricane,  felling  trees  in 
the  forest,  hurling  brush  through  the  air,  and  raising 
waves  four  and  five  feet  high,  from  whose  crests  flew 
great  white  masses  of  foam,  the  wide  river  resembling  a 
sheet  of  boiling  milk  in  the  darkness.  Although  we  were 
in  a  well-sheltered  cove,  which  had  remained  calm  the 
evening  before,  even  in  the  high  wind,  yet  this  gale  sent 
in  such  huge  waves  that  our  ' '  barka ' '  was  on  the  point 
of  being  wrecked,  and  was  only  saved  by  the  severest 
labor  of  the  crew.  The  little  birch-bark  canoe  was  swept 
f  ^om  her  deck  and  thrown  high  up  on  the  beach,  where  it 


326  ALONG  ALASKA'S  GREAT  RIVER. 

resembled  a  mass  of  brown  wrapi)iiig  paper  which  the 
storm  had  beaten  down  upon  the  stones.  The  gale  slowly- 
died  down  on  the  20th,  but  ceased  too  late  to  give  us  a 
chance  to  start,  and  we  remained  over  night,  a  heavy  fog 
and  rain  terminating  the  day. 

On  the  21st  w^e  saw  a  couple  of  oomiens,  {bidarra — 
Russian)  or  large  skin-boats  being  hauled  up  stream  by 
native  dogs  on  the  bank,  somewhat  after  the  fashion  of 
canal-horses  on  a  tow-path.  We  had  baffling  winds  most 
of  the  day,  some  few  of  which  we  could  take  advantage 
of,  but  at  6  p.  M.  the  wind  had  settled  down  to  its  regular 
"dead-ahead"  gale. 

We  camped  at  half -past  nine  o'clock  at  Hall's  Rai^ids, 
(named  by  Raymond),  but  found  them  at  the  time  of  our 
visit  to  consist  only  of  some  rough  water  along  the  rocky 
beach,  while  the  high  land  mapped  by  him  on  the  south- 
eastern bank  was  wanting.  As  I  said  before,  the  high 
land  on  the  right  bank  with  low  country  upon  the  left  is 
a  state  of  things  which  continues  until  the  delta  is 
reached,  when  the  whole  country  becomes  level. 

About  six  or  seven  o'  clock  in  the  afternoon  we  were 
passing  the  upper  ends  or  entrances,  seven  of  them  alto- 
gether, of  the  Shagelook  slough,  which  here  makes  a 
great  bend  to  the  eastward  and  incloses  an  area  larger 
than  some  of  the  New  England  states  before  it  again 
meets  the  Yukon  River  far  beyond.  This  Shagelook 
slough  receives  the  Innoka  River  in  its  upper  portion  and 
wdien  the  Yukon  is  the  higher  of  the  two  it  carries  part 
of  its  waters  into  the  upper  entrances  of  the  slough 
receiving  the  waters  of  the  Innoka,  and  both  streams 
emptying  themselves  at  the  slough's  lower  end.  When 
the  Innoka  is  the  higher  its  waters  find  an  outlet  into 


DOWN  THE  RIVER  AND  HOME.  327 

the  Yukon  by  the  upper  mouths.  We  now  began  to  feel 
anxious  about  the  "  Yukon,"  as  she  was  very  much  over- 
due. From  this  point  she  could  make  St.  Michael's  in 
three  or  four  days,  and  although  we  had  received  official 
assurances  from  Washington  that  the  revenue  cutter 
"Corwin  "  would  not  leave  St.  Michael's  before  the  loth 
of  September,  yet  there  was  fear  that  the  boat  might 
pass  us  or  the  ' '  Corwin ' '  find  some  official  emergency  to 
call  her  elsewhere  before  this  date. 

The  night  of  the  21st-22d,  was  a  bitterly  cold  one, 
verging  on  freezing,  and  we  slept  soundly  after  our  loss 
of  sleep  the  night  before.  We  started  quite  early,  how- 
ever, and  a  little  meteorological  surprise  in  the  shape  of 
a  favorable  wind  came  to  our  aid  after  10  a.  m.,  and  at 
1:30  P.  M.  we  landed  at  the  mouth  of  the  An  vie  or  Anvik. 
The  i)icturesquely-situated  trading  station  is  about  a 
mile  or  a  mile  and  a-quarter  above  this  point,  but  the 
shoals  were  so  numerous,  the  channel  so  winding,  that 
this  was  the  nearest  i^oint  we  could  make,  especially  with 
a  foul  wind.  Right  alongside  of  us  was  a  large  Indian 
village,  where  we  learned  to  our  satisfaction  that  the 
' '  Yukon ' '  had  not  yet  passed  ;  for  one  of  the  party  at  our 
last  camp  had  interpreted  some  Indian  information 
to  mean  that  the  boat  had  passed  down  two  days 
before. 

From  this  place  I  sent  a  courier  to  St.  Michael's,  who 
was  to  ascend  the  Anvik  River  to  the  head  of  canoe  navi- 
gation, and  thence  to  make  a  short  portage  to  a  stream 
emptying  near  the  post,  the  entire  distance  being  readily 
covered  in  three  days,  or  in  two  if  sufficient  energy  is 
displayed.  He  promised  to  be  there  without  fail  in  three 
days,  i.  e. ,  by  the  25th,  and  I  paid  him  a  little  extra  for 


328  ALONG  ALASKA'S  GREAT  RJ  /Er.. 

the  extra  exertion.  He  arrived  about  a  we^k  after  I  did 
and  we  were  ten  days  in  reaching  St.  Michael's  frcm  this 
point.  My  object  was  to  let  the  "  Coiwin*'  know  that 
my  party  was  coming.  The  "Leo,"  an  Alaskan  trading 
schooner,  was  also  expected  to  touch  fit  St.  Michael's  to 
exchange  some  signal  officers,  and  I  sent  word  to  ]ier,  re- 
questing her  to  wait  for  us  if  the  ' '  Corwin ' '  had  gone.  Mr. 
Fredericksen  was  the  trader,  and  a  very  intelligent  per- 
son for  such  a  lonely  and  outlandish  s.r.oi.  He  1j id  been 
furnished  with  meteorological  inst/:uirjr,nts  by  tr.e  Signal 
Service,  to  which  he  made  regular /^.r^rts.  He  informed 
me  that  he  has  seen  ice  of  such  di^  '/J^.  by  the  4th  of  Sep- 
tember as  to  cut  the  thick  cq  rring  of  a  hidarra  or 
oomien  ;  but  this,  of  course,  is  ^  ctj  unusual.  The  year 
before  our  arrival— 1882 — the  \Lfd  did  not  form  until  the 
12tli  of  October,  and  the  first  of  that  month  may  be  re- 
garded as  the  average  date  of  its  formation. 

Mr.  Fredericksen  warmly  welcomed  my  arrival  at  his 
station,  having  recently  had  some  serious  trouble  with 
the  Indians,  who  were  not  even  yet  quieted.  A  number 
of  Shagelooks,  as  he  termed  them,  had  come  down  the 
river,  a  short  time  before,  to  meet  the  Greek  priest  from 
the  mission  at  Ikogmute,  who  had  come  to  Anvik  in  or- 
der to  baptize  them.  While  the  Shagelooks  were  wait- 
ing for  the  priest,  they  arranged  a  plot  to  rob  the  trader. 
Some  one  or  two  of  them  were  to  provoke  him  in  some 
exasperating  way,  and  if  he  showed  any  resistance  or 
even  annoyance,  the  others  were  to  side  with  their  fel- 
lows, seize  the  trader  and  secure  him  until  his  store  was 
plundered  and  the  booty  removed,  when  he  was  to  be 
liberated,  or  murdered  if  aggressive.  In  some  way  the 
Anviks  got  an  inkling  of  the  plot,  and  prejDared  to  side 


DOWN  THE  RIVER  AND  HOME.  329 

with  Mr.  Fredericksen,  and  when  the  preliminaries  com- 
menced with  the  cutting  oj)en  of  one  of  the  trader's 
finest  skin-boats — bidarra — the  Shagelooks  saw  them- 
selves confronted  by  such  an  array  of  well-armed  Anvik  In- 
dians, that  they  were  perfectly  satisfied  to  let  the  business 
drop.  The  christening  w^as  carried  out  according  to  pro- 
gramme, but  the  baffled  Shagelooks  vowed  vengeance  on 
both  the  Anviks  and  the  trader  whenever  an  opportunity 
might  occur,  and  they  were  not  reticent  in  so  informing 
him  at  their  dej)arture,  hinting  that  their  turn  might 
come  when  the  Anviks  left  to  hunt  reindeer  for  their 
winter  supply  of  clothing.  That  season  would  soon  be 
at  hand,  and  the  Anviks  had  the  alternative  of  losing 
their  autumn  hunting  or  of  leaving  the  station  in  a 
weakened  condition  at  their  departure.  The  arrival  of 
a  body  of  troops,  small  in  number  as  we  were,  was  a 
cause  of  congratulation,  and  Mr.  Fredericksen  intended 
to  make  the  most  out  of  it  with  discontented  natives  by 
way  of  strengthening  his  position.  . 

We  could  do  absolutely  nothing  for  him.  When  the 
president  withdrew  the  military  forces  from  Alaska,  the 
executive  order  had  ' '  clinched ' '  the  act  by  providing  that 
the  military  should  exercise  no  further  control  whatever 
in  that  vast  territory,  and  my  orders  had  emphatically 
repeated  the  clause.  In  fact,  it  w^as  a  debatable  j^oint 
whether  my  expedition  was  not  strictly  an  illegal  one, 
and  in  direct  violation  of  the  president's  order,  since  it 
was  simjoly  impossible  to  send  in  a  military  party  that 
might  not  exercise  control  over  its  ow^n  members,  which 
is  all  that  soldiers  ever  do  without  an  order  from  the 
president,  and  as  to  an  attack  by  Indians  we  had  the 
universal  right  of  self-preservation.     I  told  Mr.  Freder- 


330 


ALONG  ALASKA'S  GREAT  RIVER. 


icksen,  however,  to  make  the  most  out  of  my  visit,  which 
I  suppose  he  did. 

A  foresail  was  borrowed  from  him,  with  whicli  I  coiikT. 
make  my  way  from  tlie  mouth  of  tlie  river  to  St.  Michael' s, 
should  any  accident  have  happened  to  the  ' '  Yukon. ' '  It 
was  too  large  and  would  have  to  be  cut  to  fit,  an  expe- 


ANVIK. 

(Looking  down  both  the  Yukon  and  Anvik  Rivers.) 

dient  to  which  I  did  not  intend  to  resort  until  we  reached 
the  mouth  of  the  river. 

Mr.  Fredericksen's  station  is  on  the  banks  of  both  the 
Yukon  and  the  Anvik,  as  tlie  streams  approach  within 
about  fifty  or  seventy-five  yards  of  each  other  at  tliis 
point,  although  their  confiuence  occurs,  as  I  have  said, 
about  a  mile  below.  Tlie  illustration  above  is  from 
the  station  looking  toward  the  point  of  confluence. 
"When  the  present  trader  first  came  to  the  station  a  f  *»»v 


DOWN  THE  RIVER  AND  HOME.  331 

years  previously,  the  two  rivers  were  far  apart  at  this 
l)oint,  but  the  Anvik  has  encroached  so  largely  upon  its 
left  bank  that  Mr.  Fredericksen  expected  another  year 
to  unite  the  streams  at  his  place,  if  the  Anvik  did  not 
actually  sweep  him  away  or  force  him  to  change  his 
residence. 

Anvik  is  the  last  station  in  the  Indian  country,  and  at 
Makagamute,  thirty  or  forty  miles  below,  the  Eskimo 
begin  to  appear,  and  continue  from  that  point  to  the 
mouth  of  the  river. 

We  started  again  on  the  23d,  with  a  fine  breeze  behind 
us,  passing  Makagamute  or  7?wot  (pronounced  like  boot, 
shoot),  at  1:30  P.M.  It  was  composed  of  eight  or  ten 
houses  of  a  most  substantial  build,  flanked  and  backed 
by  fifteen  to  twenty  cacJies,  and  had  altogether  a  most 
prosperous  appearance,  imj^ressing  a  stranger  with  the 
superiority  of  the  Eskimo  over  their  neighbors.  The 
doors  were  singular  little  circular  or  rounded  holes,  very 
like  exaggerated  specimens  of  the  cottage  bird-houses, 
which  some  people  erect  for  their  feathered  friends. 
Villages  were  much  more  numerous  on  the  23d,  than 
upon  any  previous  day  of  our  voyage.  Everywhere 
might  be  seen  their  traps  and  nets  for  catching  salmon, 
of  which  fish  they  must  capture  enormous  quantities,  for 
they  live  upon  salmon  the  year  round. 

Myriads  of  geese  might  be  observed  in  all  directions 
during  this  fine  weather,  preparing  and  mobilizing  for 
their  autumnal  emigration  to  the  south  ;  and  the  air 
was  vocal  with  their  cries. 

On  the  night  of  the  23d  we  had  a  severe  frost,  the 
heavy  sedge  grass  near  cami3  being  literally  white  with 
it,  and  the  cook  was  heard  grumbling  about  the   con- 


332  ALONG  ALASKA'S  GREAT  RIVER. 

dition  of  his  dishcloth,  which  was  about  as  flexible  as  a 
battered  milk-pan,  until  thawed  out  by  means  oi  hot 
water.  The  few  musquitoes  we  saw  next  morning  were 
pitiable  looking  creatures,  although  I  doubt  very  much 
whether  any  sentiment  was  wasted  on  them.  However 
much  the  cold  spell  threatened  to  hasten  the  arrival  of 
winter,  and  to  send  the  ships  at  St.  Michael's  fljing 
south,  yet  the  discomfiture  of  the  mosquitoes  afforded  us 
a  good  deal  of  consolation,  and  thereafter  our  annoy- 
ances from  this  source  were  but  trifling. 

Starting  at  8  a.m.  with  a  head  breeze,  by  ten  o'clock 
the  wind  had  become  a  gale  and  we  were  scarcely  making 
half  a  mile  an  hour,  when  at  2:20  p.m.  we  saw  the 
steamer  "Yukon,"  with  the  St.  Michael's  in  tow,  coming 
round  a  high  precipitous  j^oint  about  three  miles  abaft 
of  us,  and  there  went  up  a  shout  of  welcome  from  our 
l)oat  that  drowned  even  the  voice  of  the  gale,  and  almost 
simultaneously  the  flash  of  a  dozen  guns  went  up  from 
both  the  "Yukon's"  decks  and  our  own.  The  point 
around  which  the  steamer  had  been  sighted,  a  con- 
spicuous landmark,  I  named  Petersen  Point,  after  Captain 
Petersen  of  the  "Yukon,"  that  being  the  only  name  I 
gave  on  the  river  below  old  Fort  Yukon.  In  about  lialf- 
an-hour  the  steamer  was  alongside  and  we  were  taken  in 
tow,  and  once  more  began  cleaving  the  water,  in  defiance 
of  the  gale. 

The  cnjotain  knew  we  had  started  from  Anvik  the  day 
before,  but  our  progress  on  the  first  day  had  been  so 
great  that  he  had  become  uneasy  for  fear  he  might  have 
passed  us.  He  had  kept  the  whistle  going  at  frequent 
intervals,  but  of  course  knew  that  it  could  not  be  heard 
far  in   such  a  gale.     If  we  had  not  yet  reached  the 


DOWN  THE  RIVER  AND  HOME.  333 

Mission  when  lie  arrived  there,  he  intended  to  return 
for  us. 

We  made  the  Mission  that  evening  at  the  upper  or 
"opposition"  store,  which  was  being  torn  down,  and 
the  best  logs  of  which  were  to  go  on  board  the  river 
steamer  to  be  taken  to  Andreavsky,  the  trading  station 
kept  by  Captain  Petersen  when  not  in  charge  of  the 
boat. 

By  next  morring  at  nine  o'clock  we  had  these  securely 
lashed  to  the  sides  and  were  under  way,  sto]3ping  three 
miles  below  at  the  Mission  jDroper.  Here  is  an  old  Greek 
church,  presided  over  by  a  half-breed  p)riest,  which 
looked  strangely  enough  in  this  far-away  corner  of  the 
world.  The  interior  w^as  fitted  ui>  with  all  the  ornaments 
customary  in  the  Greek  church,  the  solid  silver  and 
brass  of  more  stately  structures  in  Russia  being  repro- 
duced in  tinsel  and  trappings  of  a  cheaper  kind.  The 
Greek  priest  is  also  the  Alaska  Company's  trader,  and 
he  came  aboard  to  go  to  St,  Michael's  to  get  a  winter's 
supply  of  trading  material  for  his  store.  His  handsome 
little  sloop  was  tied  behind  the  big  "barka"  to  be 
towed  along,  while  from  its  stern  the  line  ran  to  the 
slooj)'s  yawl,  in  which  an  Indian  had  been  allowed  to 
come,  he  tying  his  little  skin  canoe  behind  the  yawl,  thus 
making  a  queue  of  vessels  of  rapidly  diminishing 
sizes,  quite  ludicrous  in  api^earance.  With  the  St, 
Michael's  alongside  in  tow,  and  our  guards  piled  with 
hewn  logs  as  far  as  the  upper  deck,  we  were  a  motley 
crowd  indeed  when  under  way.  The  captain  explained 
his  unusual  delay  on  the  trip  by  the  fact  that  the 
"Yukon"  had  blown  out  a  cylinder-head  just  after  leav- 
ing St.  Michael's  Bar  and  while  trying  to  make  Belle  Isle, 


334  ALONG  ALASKA'S  GREAT  RIVER. 

for  which  reason  their  return  voyage  had  to  be  made 
under  reduced  steam  in  order  to  avoid  a  repetition  of  the 
accident. 

A  serio-comic  incident  connected  with  this  mishap 
deserves  to  be  recounted.  Among  their  Eskimo  deck- 
hands was  a  powerful  young  fellow,  deaf  as  a  post,  who 
always  slept  in  the  engine-room  when  off  duty,  with  his 
head  resting  on  a  huge  cross  deck-beam  as  a  inllow,  at  a 
point  in  front  of  the  engine  that  had  broken  down. 
Whenever  he  was  wanted,  as  there  was  no  use  in  calling 
him,  they  would  walk  up  and  tap  him  with  the  foot,  or, 
as  they  soon  learned,  a  stout  kick  on  any  j^art  of  the 
beam  would  suffice  ;  whereupon  he  would  sit  up,  give 
a  great  yawn,  stretch  his  arms  and  be  ready  for  work. 
When  the  cylinder-head  of  the  engine  blew  out,  it  struck 
the  beam  directly  opposite  his  own  head,  and  buried 
itself  until  the  spot  looked  afterward  as  though  a  chain- 
shot  had  struck  it ;  ])ut  with  no  more  effect  on  the  deaf 
Eskimo  than  to  make  him  rise  up  and  yawn,  and  begin 
to  stretch  himself,  when  the  rush  of  steam  from  the  next 
stroke  of  the  engine  completely  enveloped  him,  before 
the  engineer  could  interfere,  and  he  comprehended  that 
he  was  not  being  awakened  to  go  to  work.  He  got  off 
with  a  trifling  scald  on  the  back  of  his  neck  ;  but  his 
escape  from  death  seemed  miraculous. 

All  that  day  we  stopped  about  every  couple  of  hours 
to  take  on  wood,  which  fortunately  had  been  cut  for  us 
beforehand  in  most  places,  so  that  the  delays  were  not 
very  long.  In  ascending  or  descending  the  river,  the 
steamer  hnds  a  considerable  quantity  of  the  wood  it 
requires  already  cut  at  convenient  points,  the  natives 
of  course  being  paid  for  their  labor.      This  is  the  case 


DOWN  THE  RIVER  AND  HOME.  335 

between  the  river's  mouth  and  Nuklakayet,  or  there- 
abouts, but  above  this  point,  and  even  at  many  places 
below  it  the  captain  is  obliged  to  go  ashore  near  a 
great  pile  of  drift-wood,  and  send  a  dozen  axmen  to  do 
this  duty.  The  greater  part  of  the  huge  stockade  of  old 
Fort  Yukon  and  some  of  its  minor  buildings  have  for 
several  years  supplied  them  with  wood  when  in  the 
neighborhood.  We  stopped  the  night  of  the  2oth  near 
a  native  village,  and  as  we  were  to  start  very  early  in  the 
morning,  the  doctor  and  myself,  at  the  captain' s  invita- 
tion, made  our  beds  under  the  table,  on  the  dining-room 
floor  of  the  steamer,  that  being  the  first  time  we  had 
slept  under  a  roof  since  leaving  Chilkat ;  although  the 
doctor  made  some  irrelevant  remarks  about  a  table  not 
being  a  roof,  evidently  wanting  to  extend  back  the 
period  of  our  claim. 

On  the  26th,  running  about  twelve  hours,  less  our  time 
at  "wooding"  places,  we  made  Andreavsky,  and  nearly 
the  whole  of  the  next  day  was  spent  in  unloading  the 
logs,  mooring  the  St.  Michael's  in  winter  quarters,  and 
washing  down  decks,  for  it  was  to  this  j)oint  that  the 
"Yukon"  would  return  for  the  winter  after  making  St. 
Michael's.  The  hills  of  the  right  bank  rapidly  dimin^ 
isli  in  height  as  one  approaches  Andreavsky,  and  in  the 
vicinity  of  that  place  are  only  entitled  to  the  name  of 
high  rolling  ground.  Near  the  river  the  trees  disappear 
and  are  replaced  by  willow-brake,  although  the  up- 
stream ends  of  the  numerous  islands  are  still  covered 
with  great  masses  of  drift  timber,  containing  logs  of  the 
largest  dimensions.  Before  Andreavsky  is  reached  we 
come  to  the  delta  of  the  Yukon,  an  interminable  con- 
course of  islands  and  channels  never  yet  fully  explored. 


336  ALONG  ALASKA'S  GREAT  RIVER. 

From  the  most  northerly  of  these  mouths  to  the  most 
southerly  is  a  distance  of  about  ninety  miles,  according 
to  local  computation. 

Late  as  it  was  when  we  started  on  the  27th,  we  reached 
a  point  half  way  to  Coatlik,  where  wood  was  cut  by 
our  crew  for  the  morning's  start.  All  semblance  of 
rolling  country  had  now  disai)j)eared,  except  in  the  dis- 
tance, and  the  country  was  as  flat  as  the  lower  delta  of 
the  Mississippi. 

Coatlik,  seven  miles  from  the  Ai)hoon  or  northernmost 
mouth,  was  reached  next  day  at  1  p.  m.,  and  we  spent 
the  afternoon  in  j)reparing  the  boilers  for  the  change  to 
salt  water,  and  in  taking  on  another  log  house,  which 
was  to  be  transported  to  St.  Michael's,  there  to  be  used 
in  completing  a  Greek  church  in  course  of  erection. 

Starting  at  early  daylight  on  the  morning  of  the  29th, 
a  steam-valve  blew  out,  and  it  looked  as  if  we  should  be 
delayed  two  or  three  days  for  rex:)airs,  but  the  captain 
fixed  up  an  ingenious  contrivance  with  a  jack-screw  as 
a  substitute,  and  at  half -past  nine  in  the  morning  we 
again  proceeded.  Soon  afterward  we  reached  the 
Aj^hoon  mouth  of  the  river,  where  we  commenced  the 
slow  and  tedious  threading  of  its  shallow  channels  be- 
tween their  mud  banks.  For  untold  ages  this  swift, 
muddy  river  has  deijosited  its  sediment  upon  the  shallow 
eastern  shores  of  Bering' s  Sea,  until  mud  and  sand  banks 
have  been  thrown  up  for  seventy  or  eighty  miles  beyond 
the  delta,  making  it  unsafe  for  vessels  of  any  draft  to 
cross  them  even  in  moderate  weather.  St.  Michael's  is 
the  nearest  port  to  the  mouth  at  which  vessels  of  any 
size  can  enter  and  anchor.  The  heavy  wind  still  raging 
made  it  difficult  to  steer  the  boat  through  the  winding 


DOWN  THE  RIVER  AND  HOME.  337 

channels,  and  this,  conpJed  with  the  heavy  load  of  logs 
that  weighed  ns  to  the  guards,  sent  us  a  dozen  times  on 
the  low  mud  flats,  to  escape  from  which  gave  us  much 
trouble.  Our  delay  at  Coatlik  had  also  lost  us  some 
of  the  tide,  there  being  about  two  feet  of  water  on  the 
bar  at  ebb  and  nearly  as  much  more  at  flood  tide.  So 
shallow  is  the  stream  that  the  channel  is  indicated  by 
willow  canes  stuck  in  the  mud,  at  convenient  intervals, 
serving  the  purpose  of  buoys.  IS'ear  the  Aphoon  mouth 
comes  in  the  Pastolik  River,  and  once  across  the  bar  of 
mud  near  the  confluence,  the  channel  of  the  latter 
stream  is  followed  to  deep  water.  This  muddy  sedi- 
ment is  very  light  and  easily  stirred  up,  and  when  a 
storm  is  raging  the  whole  sea  as  far  as  the  eye  can 
reach  resembles  an  angry  lake  of  mud.  From  the  Pas- 
tolik  River  on,  the  westerly  wind  gradually  increased 
to  a  gale,  the  sea  running  very  high  and  making  many 
of  us  quite  sea-sick.  Fearing  to  round  Point  Romant- 
zoff,  the  captain  put  back  and  anchored  in  a  somewhat 
sheltered  cove,  returning  about  half  way  to  the  Pasto- 
lik. A  flat-bottomed  river  boat  anchored  in  Bering's 
Sea  during  a  gale,  loaded  with  a  log-house  and  towing  a 
number  of  craft,  certainly  did  net  seem  a  very  safe  abid- 
ing place. 

Early  on  the  morning  of  the  30th  we  got  under  way, 
the  weather  having  moderated  considerably  during  the 
night,  and  constantly  improving  as  we  proceeded.  We 
rounded  Cape  Romantzoff  about  the  middle  of  the  fore- 
noon, and  as  we  passed  between  Stuart  and  St.  Michael's 
Islands,  shortly  before  noon,  nothing  was  left  of  yester- 
day's angry  sea  but  a  few  long  ground- swells,  which  dis- 
turbed us  but  little.     At  noon  we  rounded  the  point  that 


338  ALONG  ALASKA'S  GREAT  BIVEIi. 

hid  the  little  village  of  St.  Michael' s,  and  were  received 
by  a  salute  of  three  discharges  from  as  many  ancient 
Russian  carronades,  to  which  we  responded  vigorously 
with  the  whistle.  All  eyes  swept  the  bay  for  signs  of 
the  "  Corwin,"  but  a  boat  putting  off  from  shore  told  us 
that  she  had  left  on  the  10th  of  August,  nearly  three 
weeks  before. 

The  "  Leo, "  which  was  due  about  the  15th  of  the  month, 
had  not  yet  arrived,  and  although  it  was  known  that 
she  had  a  signal  observer  on  board  to  take  the  place  of 
the  one  now  at  St.  Michael's,  it  was  not  j)ositive  that  she 
would  arrive  there  at  all,  if  hampered  with  heavy  gales. 
She  had  been  chartered  by  the  government  to  j^roceed  to 
Point  Barrow,  on  the  Arctic  coast  of  Alaska,  and  take 
on  board  Lieutenant  Ray's  party  of  the  International 
Meteorological  Station  at  that  point,  and  it  was  not 
altogether  certain  that  she  might  not  have  been  wrecked 
in  the  ice  while  engaged  in  this  somewhat  hazardous 
undertaking ;  the  chances  varying  considerably  each 
season  according  to  the  state  of  the  ice  and  the  weather. 
The  state  of  the  latter  might  be  inferred  from  the  fact 
that  the  day  of  our  arrival  was  the  first  fine  one  they  had 
had  at  the  redoubt  (as  St.  Michael's  is  called  here  and  in 
the  Yukon  valley),  for  over  six  weeks,  during  which 
there  had  been  an  almost  continuous  storm. 

There  was  also  a  vessel,  the  ""Alaska,"  at  Golovnin  Bay, 
about  sixty  miles  north  of  St.  Michael's,  across  Norton 
Sound,  which  was  loading  with  silver  ore  for  San  Fran- 
cisco, and  was  expected  to  depart  about  the  1st  of 
October.  It  was  possible  that  she  might  call  liere,  en 
route,  as  the  mining  comjiany  to  which  she  belonged  had 
a  considerable  quantity  of  material  stored  at  this  i3oint. 


DOWN  THE  RIVER  AND  HOME.  339 

The  evening  of  the  30th  we  spent  at  a  dance  in  tlie 
Eskimo  village  near  by,  after  which  we  went  on  board 
the  "  Yukon  "  to  sleep,  which  however  was  almost  imx^os- 
sible  on  account  of  the  boat's  heavy  rolling  while  at 
anchor. 

I  was  a  little  surprised  to  find  that  I  could  carry  on 
even  a  very  limited  conversation  w  ith  the  Eskimo  of  this 
locality,  the  last  of  that  tribe  I  had  lived  among  being 
the  natives  of  the  north  Hudson's  Bay  regions,  of  whose 
existence  these  Eskimo  knew  nothing. 

On  the  31st  I  sent  a  couple  of  Eskimo  couriers  to  the 
*' Alaska"  at  Golovnin  Bay,  asking  her  to  call  at  this 
j)ort  in  order  to  take  my  party  on  board,  after  which  I 
sat  down  to  await  results.  Meantime  we  had  moved  on 
shore  into  Mr.  Leavitfs  house,  which  was  kindly  put  at 
our  disposal,  Mr.  Leavitt  was  the  signal  observer,  and 
had  been  stationed  here  over  three  years,  and  he  was  as 
anxiously  awaiting  the  arrival  of  the  "Leo"  as  our- 
selves. 

St.  Michael's,  Michaelovski,  or  "the  redoubt,"  as  it  is 
variously  called — St.  Michael' s  Redoubt  being  the  official 
Russian  title,  translated  into  English — is  a  little  village 
on  an  island  of  the  same  name,  comprising  about  a  dozen 
houses,  all  directly  or  indirectly  devoted  to  the  affairs 
of  the  Alaska  Commercial  Company.  Mr.  Neumann 
was  the  superintendent,  and  a  very  agreeable  and  affable 
gentleman  we  found  him,  doing  much  to  make  our  short 
stay  at  the  redoubt  pleasant.  There  are  no  fresh  water 
springs  on  the  island  near  the  post,  and  every  few  days 
a  large  row-boat  is  loaded  with  water-barrels  and  taken 
to  the  mainland,  where  four  or  five  days'  supply  is 
secured.     The    ' '  opposition ' '    store,  three  miles   across 


340  ALONG  ALASKA'S  GREAT  RIVER. 

the  bay,  seems  much  better  situated  in  this  and  other 
resj^ects,  but  when  St.  Michael's  was  selected  by  the 
Russians  over  a  third  of  a  century  j)reviously,  the  idea 
of  defensibility  was  the  controlling  motive.  The  i)assage 
between  the  island  and  the  mainland  is  a  river-like 
channel,  and  was  formerly  used  by  the  river  steamer 
until  Captain  Petersen  became  master,  when  he  boldly 
put  out  to  sea,  as  a  preferable  route  to  "  the  slough,"  as 
it  is  sometimes  called,  there  being  a  number  of  danger- 
ous rocks  in  the  latter. 

On  the  evening  of  tlie  31st  we  again  visited  the  Eskimo 
village,  in  company  with  most  of  the  white  men  of  the 
redoubt,  in  order  to  see  the  performance  of  a  noted 
"medicine-man"  or  sliaman  from  the  Golovnin  Bay 
district.  He  was  to  show  us  some  savage  sleight-of-hand 
performances,  and  to  foretell  the  jDrobability  and  time 
of  the  ' '  Leo' s ' '  arrival.  In  the  latter  operation  he  took  a 
large  blue  bead  and  crushing  it  to  fragments  threw  it  out 
of  doors  into  the  sea,  "sending  it  to  the  schooner,"  as 
he  said.  After  a  long  and  tiresome  rigmarole,  another 
blue  bead  was  produced  which  he  affirmed  to  be  the  same 
one,  telling  us  that  it  had  been  to  the  vessel,  and  by 
returning  whole  testified  her  safety.  A  somewhat  similar 
performance  with  a  quarter  of  a  silver  dollar  told  him  that 
the  "Leo"  would  arrive  at  St.  Michael's  about  the  next 
new  moon.  There  was  nothing  remarkable  about  these 
tricks  ;  and  another  of  tying  his  hands  behind  him  to  a 
heavy  plank,  and  then  bringing  them  to  the  front  of  his 
body,  and  lifting  the  board  from  the  flooi'  of  1  he  medicine 
house,  was  such  a  palpable  deception  as  to  puzzle  no  one. 

This  polar  i^riest,  liowever,  had  a  great  rejiutation 
among  the  natives   all  about   Norton  Sound.     He  had 


DOWN  THE  RIVER  AND  HOME.  341 

predkjted  the  loss  of  the  Jeannette  and  the  consequent 
death  of  the  two  Eskimo  from  this  point.  For  his  favorable 
news  Mr.  Neumann  rewarded  him  with  a  sack  of  flour ; 
and  I  suppose  he  would  have  been  perfectly  willing  to 
furnish  more  good  news  for  more  Hour. 

The  next  day  I  took  a  genuine  Russian  bath  in  a  house 
erected  many  years  ago  for  that  purpose  by  the  Russians. 
It  may  be  more  cleansing,  but  it  is  less  comfortable  than 
the  counterfeit  Russian  bath  as  administered  in  American 
cities. 

The  2d  of  September  was  the  warmest  day  they  had 
had  that  summer,  the  thermometer  marking  65°  Fahren- 
heit. Late  in  the  afternoon  the  ' '  Yukon ' '  set  out  on  her 
return  to  Andreavsky  amidst  a  salute  from  the  carron- 
ades  and  the  screaming  of  the  steam-whistle. 

On  the  3d  my  Golovnin  Bay  couriers,  who  I  supjDosed 
had  started  on  the  preceding  day,  and  were  then  forty 
or  fifty  miles  away  on  their  journey,  came  nonchalantly 
to  me  and  reported  their  departure.  I  bade  them 
good-by,  and  told  them  not  to  delay  on  the  idea  that  1 
wanted  the  "Alaska"  next  year  and  not  this,  and 
I)romising  me  seriously  to  remember  this,  they  departed. 
The  next  day — the  4th — they  returned,  having  forgotten 
their  sugar,  an  article  of  luxury  thej'hadnot  enjoyed  for 
months  previously,  and  again  departed.  I  expected  to 
see  them  return  in  two  or  three  days  for  a  string  to  tie 
it  up  with,  but  their  outfit  must  have  been  complete  this 
time,  for  I  never  saw  or  heard  of  them  again  ;  but  I  could 
not  help  thinking  what  valuable  messenger  service  the 
telegraph  companies  were  losing  in  this  far-away  country. 

Sure  enough,  on  the  8th  of  tlie  month  the  "  Leo  "  bore 
down  in  a  gale  and  was  soon  anchored  in  the  bay,  where 


342  ALONG  ALASKA'S  GREAT  IlIVER. 

we  boarded  her.  Although  already  overcrowded  for  a 
little  schooner  of  about  two  hundred  tons,  Lieutenant 
Ray  kindly  made  room  for  my  additional  party,  there 
being  by  this  addition  about  thirty-five  on  board  and 
seventeen  in  the  little  cabin.  While  trying  to  make 
Point  Barrow,  the  "Leo"  had  been  nipped  in  the  ice  and 
had  her  stem  split  and  started,  sustaining  other  injuries 
the  extent  of  which  could  not  be  ascertained.  She  was 
leaking  badly,  requiring  about  five  or  ten  minutes  at  the . 
pumps  every  hour,  but  it  was  intended  to  try  and  make 
San  Francisco,  unless  the  leaking  increased  in  a  gale, 
when  she  was  to  be  repaired  at  Oonalaska,  and  if  mat- 
ters came  to  the  worst  she  would  be  condemned. 

A  few  days  were  spent  in  chatting  of  our  experiences, 
getting  fresh  water  on  board  and  exchanging  signal 
observers,  and  on  the  morning  of  the  11th,  at  0  a.m., 
under  a  salute  of  six  guns,  we  weighed  anchor  and 
started,  with  a  strong  head  wind  that  kept  constantly 
increasing.  This  gale  was  fi-om  the  north-west,  and  as 
we  had  to  beat  a  long  distance  in  that  direction  in  order 
to  clear  the  great  mud  banks  off  the  delta  of  the  Yukon, 
so  little  progress  was  made  that  after  an  all  day' s  fight 
we  ran  back  to  St.  Michael's  in  an  hour's  time  and 
dropped  anchor  once  more,  to  await  a  change  in  the 
weather.  Next  day  we  got  away  early  and  managed  to 
beat  a  little  on  our  course.  The  13th  gave  us  an  almost 
dead  calm  until  late  in  the  afternoon,  when  we  caught  a 
fine  breeze  abaft  and  rounded  the  Yukon  banks  about 
midnight.  This  favorable  breeze  increased  to  a  light 
gale  next  day  and  we  pounded  along  at  the  rate  of  ten 
or  eleven  knots  an  hour. 

On  the  15th  the  gale  continued  and  so  increased  the 


DOWN  THE  RIVER  AND  HOME.  343 

next  day  that  evening  saw  us  "hove  to"  for  fear  of 
running  into  Oonalaska  Island  during  the  night.  This 
run  across  Bering' s  Sea  in  less  than  three  days  was  stated 
by  oar  master,  Captain  Jacobsen,  to  be  the  best  sailing 
record  across  that  sheet  of  water. 

The  morning  of  the  17th  opened  still  and  calm,  with 
a  number  of  the  Aleutian  islands  looming  up  directly 
ahead  of  us  in  bold  relief.  A  very  light  breeze  sprang 
up  about  noon,  and  with  its  help  at  6  p.m.  we  entered 
the  heads  of  Oonalaska  harbor,  and  at  nine  o'clock  we 
dropped  anchor  in  the  dark  about  half  a  mile  from  the 
town.  Most  of  us  visited  the  place  that  night  and  had  a 
very  pleasant  receiDtion  by  Mr.  Neumann,  the  agent  of 
the  Alaska  Company.  Here  we  found  that  company's 
steamer  the  "Dora,"  and  the  revenue-cutter  "Corwin," 
which  had  been  lying  here  since  leaving  St,  Michael's. 
These  two  vessels  and  everybody  generally  were  waiting 
for  the  Alaska  Comj)any's  large  steamer  "  St.  Paul  "from 
San  Francisco,  upon  whose  arrival  the  "Dora,"  was  to 
distribute  the  material  received  for  the  various  trading 
stations  on  the  Aleutian  Islands  and  the  mainland  adja- 
cent ;  the  "  Corwin  "  would  sail  for  some  i^oint  or  other, 
no  one  could  find  out  where,  and  the  residents  would 
settle  down  for  another  year  of  monotonous  life. 

The  last  day' s  gale  on  Bering  Sea  had  left  no  doubt  on 
the  minds  of  those  in  charge  that  the  "  Leo  "  would  have 
to  be  repaired,  accordingly  she  was  lightened  by  dis- 
charging her  load,  and  on  the  morning  of  the  20th  she 
was  beached  near  by,  the  fall  of  the  tide  being  suffi- 
cient to  reveal  her  injuries,  and  to  allow  of  temporary 
repair. 

We  passed  our  time  in  strolling  around  examining  the 


344 


ALONG  ALASKA'S  GREAT  RIVER. 


islands,  while  some  of  the  party  got  out  their  fishing 
tackle  and  succeeded  in  securing  a  few  fine  though 
small  trout  from  the  clear  mountain  streams. 

This  grand  chain  of  islands  jutting  out  boldly  into  the 
broad  Pacific  receives  the  warm  waters  of  the  Japanese 
current — Kuro  Siwo — a  deflected  continuation  of  a  part 


■-'-   ^-^'^■^•'^^^^^''^^'^'■^iJui^'fJ*^^ 


OOXALASKA. 

of  the  Pacific  equatorial  current  corresponding  to  our  gulf 
stream.  From  this  source  it  derives  a  warmer  climate 
than  is  possessed  by  any  body  of  land  so  near  the  pole, 
although  it  lies  in  about  the  same  parallels  as  the  British 
Islands.  The  cold  of  zero  and  the  opj)essive  heat  of 
summer  are  equally  unknown  to  this  region.      Grasses 


DOWN  THE  RIVER  AND  HOME.  345 

grow  luxiiriantly  everywhere,  upon  wliicli  the  reindeer 
used  to  graze  in  numerous  herds,  their  Iveen  sight  and 
the  absence  of  timber  j^rotecting  them  from  the  rude 
weapons  of  the  native  hunters  until  tlie  introduction  of 
firearms,  after  which  they  were  rapidly  exterminated. 
In  a  few  days  we  heard  with  pleasure  that  the  "  Leo"  was 
''eady  and  we  soon  quitted  Alaska  for  good.  The  nortli- 
A^est  winds  sang  a  merry  song  through  our  sails  as  the 
meridians  and  parallels  took  on  smaller  numbei's,  and  in 
a  very  few  days,  the  twinkling  twin  lights  of  the  Faral- 
lones  greeted  our  eyes,  and  anchored  safely  within  the 
Golden  Gate,  our  journey  ended. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

THE    KLONDIKE    REGION. 

On  page  244,  Scliwatka  says: 

"We  camped  that  night  at  the  mouth  of  a  noticeable 
stream  coming  in  from  the  east,  which  we  afterwards 
learned  was  called  Deer  Creek  b}^  the  traders,  from  the 
large  number  of  caribou  or  woodland  reindeer  seen  in 
its  valley  at  certain  times  of  their  migrations." 

This  is  the  stream  that  is  now  known  the  world  over 
as  the  Klondike.  What  the  Indians  reallj^  called  it  was 
"Thron-Diuck,"  from  which  comes  the  Avord  "Klondike." 

The  Klondike  is  a  small  river  about  fort}^  j-ards  wide 
at  the  mouth,  and  shallow;  the  water  is  clear  and 
transparent,  and  of  beautiful  blue  color.  Dawson  City 
is  located  at  the  mouth  of  the  river,  and  although  it 
was  located  only  a  few  months  ago,  it  is  now  the  scene 
of  great  activitj^ 

Upon  this  stream  and  several  of  its  affluents  have 
been  found  the  rich  deposits  of  gold.  The  river  is  about 
140  miles  in  length,  and  the  gold-bearing  creeks,  Avhere 
the  richest  dei)osits  have  been  found,  run  into  the  Klon- 
dike from  a  southerly  direction. 

The  princi](;il  creeks  are  the  TJonauza,  entering  the 
Klondike  two  miles  fiom  its  junction  with  the  Yukon; 
El  Dorado  Creek,  a  branch  of  Bonanza  Creek,  from 
twelve  to  fifteen  miles  in  length;  about  seven  miles  far- 

346 


THE  KLONDIKE  REGION.  347 

ther  up  Bonanza  Creek  is  Gold  Bottom  Creek;  and  a 
few  miles  beyond  is  Adams  Creek.  There  are  several 
smaller  creeks  emptying  into  Bonanza  Creek,  which  are 
gold-bearing. 

About  twelve  miles  up  the  Klondike  is  Bear  Greek, 
which  has  several  tributaries,  and  twelve  miles  farther 
up  is  Hunter  Creek.  About  ten  miles  farther  up  the 
Klondike  is  Too  Much  Gold  Creek.  Bonanza  and  El 
Dorado  creeks  have  produced  the  richest  deposits  of 
gold  yet  found,  but  all  the  creeks  mentioned  have  some 
\ery  rich  deposits. 

The  knowledge  of  these  gold  fields  in  the  far  north 
is  not  new.  From  early  in  the  days  of  the  Russian  occu- 
pation of  this  territory  it  has  been  known  that  there 
were  vast  deposits  of  the  precious  metal  in  Alaska.  It 
is  said  that  the  existence  of  gold  in  quantities  along  the 
Yukon  and  its  tributaries  was  known  to  the  fur-trading 
companies  a  century  and  a  half  ago.  These  companies 
were  not  after  minerals,  and  they  were  merely  guarding 
the  immense  wealth  which  abounded  in  the  fur  indus- 
tries when  they  did  not  give  their  knowledge  to  the 
world.  Other  fur  companies  have  followed  the  ex- 
ample of  the  early  traders  and  have  kept  the  secret. 
They  foresaw  the  effect  of  a  rush  of  immigrants. 

The  aborigines  of  Alaska  have  been  familiar  with  the 
precious  yellow  metal  for  a  time  that  is  old  even  in 
their  legends.  The  earliest  voyagers  to  the  coasts  of 
Alaska  noticed  the  bits  of  shining  gold  here  and  there 
among  the  ornaments  of  the  natives,  and  for  these  they 
traded  knives,  guns,  and  fancy  trappings.  Beyond  the 
few  ounces  which  they  gained  in  this  way,  how^ever,  no 
gold  was  obtained  from  those  regions.     In  1741  the 


348  ALONG  ALASKA' iS  GREAT  RIVER, 

Russian  explorer,  Belirini>',  after  whom  the  great  Alas- 
kan JSea  is  named, found  j^old,  but  he  found  what  seemed 
to  him  more  attractive,  fine  furs.  Upon  the  value  of 
the  furs  he  laid  great  stress  in  his  report  to  his  monarch, 
and  the  result  was  that  the  country  was  granted  by  the 
Emperor  Paul  for  fur-gathering  purposes  alone  to  the 
Eusso-American  Fur  Company,  and  thus  it  remained 
until  the  purchase  by  the  United  States  in  1867. 

That  there  were  deposits  of  gold  in  those  icy  regions 
was  hinted  by  the  early  explorers,  and  incomplete  rec- 
ords show  that  more  than  one  party  put  civilization  be- 
hind for  the  purpose  of  investigating  the  country.  In 
fact,  enough  men  had  left  for  that  region  to  produce  suf- 
ficient gold  to  cause  the  Director  of  the  Mint  to  credit 
Alaska  with  three  hundred  thousand  dollars  in  gold 
and  two  thousand  dollars  in  silver  in  1885.  Most  of 
this  metal  came  from  Douglas  Island.  In  1890  the  total 
output  of  lode  and  placer  mines  in  Alaska  was  put  at 
four  million  six  hundred  and  seventy-five  thousand  dol- 
lars, and  in  1897  the  gold  output,  it  is  estimated,  will 
reach  twelve  million  dollars. 

There  was  a  great  gold  craze  in  the  extreme  North- 
west in  1858.  In  the  60's  there  was  a  period  when  the 
annual  produc^tion  of  the  Northwest  Province  reached 
three  millions,  seven  hundred  thousand  dollars.  The 
known  deposits  were  exhausted,  however,  and  by  1890 
the  product  fell  off  to  less  than  half  a  million  dollars. 

On  page  190  of  this  volume  Mr.  Schwatka  says,  "The 
mouth  of  the  D'Abbadie  marks  an  importaut  i)()iut  on 
the  Yukon  River  as  being  the  place  at  which  gold  com- 
menced to  be  found  in  placer  deposits.  From  the  D'Ab- 


*ffi?r^*^il 


i^^ 


\ 


©aVh 


m 


The  Klondike  Goi^d  Discoveries 


THE  KLONDIKE  BEG  ION.  349 

badie  almost  to  the  very  mouth  of  the  great  Yukon  a 
panful  of  'dirt'  taken  with  any  discretion  from  almost 
any  bar  or  bank  will,  when  washed,  giA'e  several  'color  ,' 
to  use  a  minei-^s  phrase." 

The  United  States  Government  sent  Professor  J.  S. 
Spurr,  H.  B.  Goodrich  and  F.  C.  Schrader  of  the  Geo« 
logical  Suiwey,  into  the  Yukon  District  early  in  '96. 
Prof.  Spurr,  the  chief  of  the  Survey,  has  made  the  fol- 
lowing preliminary  statement : 

"Much  has  been  written  of  late  concerning  the  possi- 
bilities of  Alaska  as  a  gold-producing  country.  As  a 
matter  of  fact  the  productions  of  the  present  year  may 
be  roughly  estimated  at  three  million  dollars.  This 
amount,  however,  comes  from  a  region  of  half  a  million 
square  miles,  or  about  one  quarter  as  large  as  th(^ 
United  States.  Of  the  mines  which  produce  this  gold 
some  are  in  the  bed  rock,  while  others  are  placer  dig- 
gings. 

"The  bed  rock  mines  are  few  in  number  and  situated 
on  the  southeast  coast,  which  is  the  most  accessible 
part  of  the  territory.  The  chief  one  is  the  great  Tread- 
well  mine,  near  Juneau,  and  there  are  also  important 
mines  at  Burner's  Bay,  at  the  Island  of  Unga,  and  other 
places. 

"The  latest  strike  is  the  Klondike.  Most  of  these 
mines,  however,  are  in  low  grade  ore,  and  the  produc- 
tion is  only  made  profitable  by  careful  management  and 
operations  on  a  ver^-  large  scale.  The  placer  mines  are 
those  which  occupy  the  most  prominent  place  in  the 
popular  mind,  since  they  are  remote  from  civilization 
and  in  a  countiy  about  which  little  is  known,  and  which 
is,  on  account  of  this  uncertainty,  dangerously  attrac- 


350  ALO^G  ALASKA'S  GREAT  RIVER. 

tive  to  the  average  man.  This  i^old  producing  country 
of  the  interior  is  mostly  in  the  vicinity  of  the  Yukon 
Kiver,  or  of  some  of  its  immediate  tributaries." 

The  great  Klondike  strike  was  made  in  the  early  win- 
ter of  1890-07,  but  nothing  was  known  of  it  in  the 
United  States  until  June  15th,  1897,  when  the  "Excel- 
sior" arrived  in  San  Francisco  laden  with  Klondike 
miners,  who  were  in  turn  laden  with  gold.  These  min- 
ers had  left  the  Klondike  District,  and  gone  down  the 
Yukon  River  to  St.  Michael,  carrying  with  them  their 
loads  of  gold,  which  averaged  |10,000  to  the  man. 
About  a  month  later,  on  July  17th,  1897,  the  steamer 
"Portland"  reached  Seattle  from  St.  Michael,  Alaska, 
and  brought  the  verified  news  of  the  great  gold  dis- 
coveries in  the  Upx)er  Yukon  region  and  also  nearly  a 
million  and  three-quarters  in  gold  dust  as  freight,  with 
the  owners  of  the  same.  All  of  this  gold  had  been 
taken  from  the  placer  mines  of  the  Klondike  within  the 
year. 

Such  Avas  the  beginning  of  the  great  Klondike  gold 
craze,  which  has  seized  thousands  of  miners  and  specu- 
lators, a  great  proportion  of  whom  will  be  drawn  into 
that  region  in  the  course  of  the  year. 

The  great  problem  to  be  solved  by  those  who  contem- 
plate going  to  the  Klondike  region  is  the  method  of  get- 
ting there,  and  of  sustaining  life  after  they  reach  the 
country. 

There  are  three  principal  ways  of  going  to  the  Klon- 
dike gold  fields.  One  is  the  route  taken  by  Mr.  Schwat- 
ka,  as  described  by  him  in  previous  pages.  This  route 
is  through  the  famous  Chilkoot  Pass,  the  dangers  and 


THE  KLONDIKE  REGION.  351 

hardships  of  which  he  has  pointed  out,  but  in  no  wise 
magnified.  In  fact,  he  made  the  journey  under  the 
most  favorable  circumstances.  Another  route  is  the  all- 
water  route  from  Seattle  by  way  of  the  mouth  of  the 
Yukon.  It  is  a  fifteen  days'  voyage  from  Seattle  to  St. 
Michael,  which  is  on  the  western  coast  of  Alaska, 
north  of  the  mouth  of  the  Yukon  River.  In  making  this 
trip  one  passes  through  the  chain  of  Aleutian  Islands 
and  past  the  Pribilof  Islands,  which  is  the  great  breed- 
ing gTound  of  the  fur  seals. 

From  St.  Michael  the  trip  is  made  up  the  Yukon  in  a 
flat-bottom  river  steamer  in  from  fifteen  to  twenty  days. 
The  distance  from  Seattle  to  Dawson  City  by  way  of  St. 
Michael  and  the  Yukon  River  is  about  4,725  miles. 
The  distance  from  Seattle  by  way  of  the  Chilkoot  Pass 
route,/  that  which  was  followed  hj  Mr.  Schwatka,  is 
estimated  as  about  1,600  miles. 

The  back  door  route  is  the  old  Hudson  Bay  Trunk 
Line,  which  has  been  traveled  since  1825.  This  is  by 
way  of  St.  Paul  to  Edmonton,  Northw^est  Territory,  on 
the  Canadian  Pacific  Railroad.  This  route  from  St. 
Paul  and  Minneapolis,  by  way  of  the  Soo  Line  and  the 
Canadian  Pacific,  is  all  rail  as  far  as  Edmonton,  A 
stage  line  runs  to  Athabasca  Landing  on  the  Atha- 
basca River  forty  miles  away.  Thence  the  route  is  by 
canoe  due  north,  into  Athabasca  Lake,  and  finally  into 
Great  Slave  Lake,  the  source  of  the  McKenzie  River. 
Following  the  McKenzie  River  to  its  mouth,  the  Peel 
River  must  be  taken  south,  and  then  by  portage,  the 
Rocky  Mountain  range  is  crossed.  The  Stewart  River 
rises  just  west  of  the  mountain  range,  and  thus  the  waj^ 
to  the  Klondike  is  opened.     The  Hudson  Bay  Company 


352  AL  ONG  A  LA  SKA'S  GREA  T  RI VER. 

.i>ives  the  distance  as  1,882  miles.  This  route  is  almost 
constantly  used  b}'  the  Indians  and  trappers.  It  is 
down  grade  all  the  way.  The  Hudson  Bay  Company 
has  small  steamers  plying  wherever  the  water  is  of 
sufficient  depth. 

Still  another  way  that  is  recommended  is  known  as 
the  Takou  route.  The  entrance  to  this  inlet  is  ten  or 
twelve  miles  south  of  Juneau,  and  is  navigable  for  the 
largest  ocean  vessel  a  distance  of  eighteen  miles  to  the 
mouth  of  the  Takou  River.  This  river  is  navigable  by 
canoe  for  a  distance  of  fifteen  miles  to  Nakinah  River. 
Here  is  a  portage  of  seventy  miles  to  Lake  Teslin,  one 
of  the  chain  of  lakes  which  form  the  headwaters  of  the 
Yukon.  The  total  distance  from  Juneau  to  Lake  Tes- 
lin is  one  hundred  and  fifty  miles.  It  is  said  that  this 
route  would  require  not  over  twenty  days'  time  to  reach 
Klondike  from  Puget  Sound.  The  approximate  dis- 
tance from  Seattle  to  Dawson  City  over  this  route  is 
1,650  miles. 

Still  another  route,  and  one  which  is  highly  recom- 
mended by  a  number  of  Canadians  who  have  been  over 
it,  is  the  Stikeen  River  route.  The  Canadian  Govern- 
ment has  decided  to  make  a  large  grant  for  opening  up 
this  all-Canadian  route  to  the  Yukon. 

One  of  the  party  who  assisted  in  laying  out  this  route 
says:  "We  left  Fort  Wrangel  on  May  17th,  and  after 
a  pleasant  run  up  the  Stikeen  River  140  miles  on  the 
steamer  we  reached  Telegraph  Creek.  On  the  23d  of 
May  we  left  to  commence  operations  by  following  up 
Diese  Lake  trail  to  Tahltan  Bridge,  and  then  running  to 
the  left  of  Tahltan  River  on  the  old  Hudson  Bay  trail  to 
a  place  called  Jimtown.     From  this  point  we  decided 


THE  KLONDIKE  REGION.  353 

to  cut  a  new  trail  from  Telegraph  Oi'eek  straight  across 
on  the  left  of  Tahltan  River,  crossing  the  left  fork  about 
fifteen  miles  from  Telegraph,  and  five  miles  further  on 
connecting  with  the  old  Hudson  Baj'  trail. 

The  old  trail  Avas  cleared  of  all  obstructions  and 
followed  to  the  old  Hudson  Bay  post,  where  some  log 
buildings  still  stand.  This  point  is  a  hill  of  consider- 
able size,  there  being  about  three  miles  of  hea^^^  grade. 
This  can  be  remedied  by  cutting  a  new  trail  around  the 
hill,  following  the  creek.  The  country  in  general  is 
very  open,  and  what  timber  there  is,  is  very  small  and 
scrubby.  The  trail  runs  through  a  valley  from  five  to 
twenty  mik\s  wide,  which  presents  no  difficulties. 
About  thirty  miles  this  side  of  Lake  Teslin  we  reached  a 
summit  where  waters  run  north.  I  may  say  the  head- 
waters of  the  Yukon  commence  from  this  point. 

From  this  point  the  Klondike  may  be  reached  in 
eight  or  ten  days,  with  smooth  water  and  no  portages. 
With  the  proposed  improvements  on  the  trail  the  trip 
could  be  made  in  about  fifteen  days  with  a  pack  train 
from  Telegraph  Creek.  Fort  Wrangel  can  be  used  as  a 
supply  station  over  this  route,  the  distance  from  Fort 
Wrangel  being  about  nine  hundred  miles.  Another 
advantage  of  this  route  is  that  the  supplies  may  be  pur- 
chased at  Fort  Wrangel,  and  thus  no  dutj"  need  be  paid 
the  Canadian  Government. 

One  member  of  a  party  of  gold  seekers  who  followed 
the  Stikeen  route  has  given  the  following  account  of 
the  route  in  detail.  Since  this  route  is  to  be  improved 
by  the  Canadian  Government  this  description  is  of  con- 
siderable value: 

"From  Seattle  we  went  to  Fort  Wrangel,  140  miles 


354  A  L  ONG  A  LA  SKA'S  UREA  T  Rl  I  ER. 

this  side  of  Jnneaii,  aDtl  there  we  took  the  150-ton 
steamer  'Ahiskaii,'  which  plies  on  the  Stikeen  Kiver. 
The  tStikeen  Kiver  is  vei"}'  broad  at  some  points,  and  at 
others,  where  it  runs  through  canyons,  it  narrow^s  down 
to  100  feet  or  so,  just  room  enough  for  the  steamer  to 
pass  between  the  steep,  rocky  walls.  Rapids  were  nu- 
merous, and  frequently  the  crew  would  have  to  go 
ashore  and  'line'  the  steamer  through  a  narrow  rapid, 
where  the  water  ran  so  swiftly  that  it  made  us  dizzy. 
When  nearing  a  bit  of  water  of  this  kind  the  propeller 
was  never  used.  After  shutting  down  the  machinery, 
lines  would  be  attached  to  a  steam  capstan  on  the  deck 
of  the  steamer.  The  ends  of  these  lines  then  were  made 
fast  to  trees  on  either  side  of  the  river,  and  by  means 
of  the  steam  capstan  the  boat  was  w^arped  along  cau- 
tiously until  open  water  was  reached. 

"The  weather  was  not  so  cold  as  we  looked  for,  just 
bracing.  The  trail  along  the  Stikeen  follows  the  left 
bank  of  the  river  almost  to  the  conference  of  the  Iskoot 
River,  where  it  crosses  the  Stikeen,  following  the  left 
bank  of  the  Iskoot  to  Telegraph  Creek.  At  that  point 
the  trail  trends  to  the  west  and  north  as  far  as  the 
Tahltan  River,  followiug  tliat  course  over  a  great,  flat 
plateau  until  the  foot  of  Teslin,  or  Allen's,  Lake  is 
reached. 

"There  were  five  in  the  party  which  reached  Tele- 
graph Creek  on  the  'Alaskan.'  At  the  creek  six  white 
men  and  two  Stick  Indians  joined  our  part.y.  We  hired 
the  Indians  to  act  as  guides  as  far  as  the  Cassiar  gold 
diggings,  near  Diese  Lake,  seventy-two  miles  to  the 
north  of  Telegra])h  Creek.  We  started  for  Diese  Lake 
afoot,  packing  our  provisions  and  supplies,  of  which 


The  Descent  of  CiiitKooT  Pass 


THE  KLONDIKE  REGION.  355 

we  had  an  abundance,  on  thirteen  horses.  On  this 
journey  we  made  about  six  miles  every  twenty-four 
hours,  going  into  camp  whenever  we  felt  like  it, 

"At  the  Gassiar  diggings  we  found  a  few  Chinamen 
working  placers,  but  they  nmde  onl}^  a  bare  living,  so 
our  party,  after  looking  over  the  ground,  decided  not  to 
stay  there.  We  concluded  to  push  on  for  Lake  Teslin, 
w^hich  is  about  140  miles  to  the  north  of  Cassiar. 

"Previous  to  that  time  some  white  men  had  been  as 
far  on  that  route  as  the  Koukitchie  Lakes,  seventy-five 
miles  beyond  Telegraph  Creek,  but  we  blazed  the  way 
from  that  point  on  to  Lake  Teslin  and  through  to  the 
Yukon  River.  It  is  probable  that  we  made  some  devia- 
tions from  what  is  now  the  known  route.  The  tramp 
to  Lake  Teslin  was  not  so  very  difficult,  considering 
that  we  were  in  a  country  never  before  trodden  by  the 
foot  of  a  civilized  man.  We  had  some  trouble  with 
rivers  and  creeks,  and  had  to  cut  down  trees  and  lay 
bridges  across  Nalilin  River  and  Beebe  Creek.  It  is  a 
comparatively  safe  and  easy  journey,  nevertheless. 

"On  the  19th  day  of  July  we  reached  Lake  Teslin. 
It  is  one  of  the  most  beautiful  bodies  of  water  on  the 
American  continent.  Its  dimensions  are  about  130 
miles  long  by  an  average  of  three  and  one-half  miles 
wide.  When  we  were  there  the  ground  was  free  from 
snow  and  vegetation  was  abundant.  We  remained  in 
the  vicinity  of  Lake  Teslin  some  two  or  three  weeks, 
when  our  part}^  divided  and  two  of  us  decided  to  try  to 
find  our  way  to  the  Yukon  River.  Before  starting  out 
we  prospected  up  the  Nisulatine  River,  but  found  no 
gold.  Upon  leaving  the  lake  we  followed  the  Hoota- 
linqua  or  Teslin  River,  a  fine  stream  about  120  miles  in 


350  A  L  OXG  A  LA  SKA'S  ORE  A  T  Ul  I  ER. 

leugtli,  toward  tlic  Klondike  country.  It  Hows  into  the 
Yukon  just  above  the  Klondike  district,  where  it  and 
Thirty-Mile  or  Lewes  Kiver  join  in  prdcticallj"  forming 
the  Yukon.  Here  all  the  trails  in  that  country  meet 
together  in  a  great  canyon  in  Seminow  Hills.  Thirty- 
Mile  Iviver  drains  the  lalves  about  Dyea  Pass. 

"After  leaving  the  mouth  of  the  llootalinqua  River, 
we  followed  the  Yukon  slowly  into  Dawson  (Mty,  which 
we  reached  on  the  12th  of  October." 

In  the  preceding  chapters  many  general  statements 
as  to  the  climate  of  the  region  of  the  Yukon  River  have 
been  made,  but  so  great  is  the  difference  between  the 
climate  of  the  coast  regions  and  tha,t  of  the  interior, 
that  it  is  necessary  to  go  into  detail  to  get  any  definite 
idea  of  any  particular  region  or  district. 

The  difference  in  climatic  conditions  which  obtain  on 
the  coast  and  in  the  interior,  even  thirty  miles  back,  is 
vei"}'  marked.  The  climate  of  southeastern  Alaska  is 
much  milder  than  the  clinuite  in  the  same  latitude  on 
the  Atlantic  coast.  This  is  due  to  the  warm  current  of 
the  Pacific  that  sweeps  up  from  the  southwest.  Sum- 
mer weather  on  the  coast  is  much  more  liable  to  be  wet 
and  cloudy  than  in  the  interior.  May,  June,  and  July 
are  usually  all  one  could  desire,  but  from  that  on  to  the 
opening  of  winter  disagreeable  weatlua'  is  the  rule  and 
not  the  exception.  At  St.  Michael,  during  this  period, 
rain  falls  four  days  in  seven.  In  October  the  winds 
sheer  round  from  the  southwest  to  the  north  and  fine 
weather  sets  in.  Dining  the  fall,  wind  storms  are  of 
fre(|uent  occurrence. 

Tlie  cliniate  is  the  greatest  terror  of  the  country  in 


THE  KLUSDIKE  REUlUN.  357 

the  popular  estimate  and  in  the  estimation  of  those  who 
have  been  in  the  gold  region  in  recent  years.  The  pros- 
pector is  willing  to  scale  mountains,  traverse  plains, 
cross  rivers,  shoot  rapids,  and  brave  a  thousand  perils, 
but  the  thought  of  living  in  a  country  whose  tempera- 
ture is  often  represented  as  being  comparable  with  that 
of  a  vast  refrigerator  is  appalling.  The  average  tem- 
perature in  the  Klondike  country  during  the  four  cold- 
est months  of  the  year  is  not  ordinarily  much  lower 
than  twenty  degrees  below  zero.  The  average  winter's 
snowfall  in  that  part  of  Alaska  is  only  about  two  feet, 
whereas  on  the  coast  it  is  ten  times  that  much.  The 
snowfall  in  the  vicinity  of  Fort  Cudahy  is  only  about 
two  feet  during  the  winter,  although  it  is  as  much  as 
twenty  feet  along  the  coast  where  the  influence  of  the 
Japan  current  is  felt. 

It  is  bitterly  cold  in  Arctic  Alaska.  Forty  degrees  be- 
low zero  for  days  at  a  stretch  is  not  uncommon.  The 
general  conception  of  the  climate  of  the  great  North- 
west is  largely  due  to  those  who  have  merely  skirted  the 
coast.  And  it  is  not  very  remarkable  that  the  reports 
are  not  more  true  of  the  whole  of  the  Alaskan  country, 
for  the  coast  line  is  over  twenty-six  thousand  miles  long 
and  extends  through  many  degrees  of  latitude.  Any 
one  traveling  any  considerable  part  of  such  a  distance 
would  easily  feel  justified  in  drawing  a  general  con- 
clusion as  to  the  climate  of  the  whole  country. 

As  stated  above,  the  climate  of  the  interior,  including 
in  that  designation  practically  all  of  the  country  except 
a  narrow  fringe  of  coastal  margin,  is  one  of  extreme 
rigor  in  winter,  with  a  brief,  but  relatively  hot  summer, 
especially  when  the  sky  is  free  from  clouds. 


358  ALONG  ALASKA'S  GREAT  RIVER. 

Ill  the  Kloiidike  region,  in  midwinter,  the  sim  rises 
from  9:30  to  10  a.  m.,  and  sets  from  2  to  3  p.  m.,  the  total 
length  of  daylight  being  about  four  hours.  The  sun 
rises  but  a  few  degrees  above  the  horizon,  and  it  is 
wholl}^  obscured  on  a  great  many  daj^s,  so  the  character 
of  the  winter  months  iwixy  be  easil,y  imagined. 

The  United  States  Coast  and  Geodetic  Survey  in  1889- 
90  made  a  series  of  observations  covering  a  period  of 
six  months  on  the  Yukon,  not  far  from  the  site  of  the 
present  gold  discoveries.  The  obsen^ations  w^ere  made 
with  standard  instruments  and  are  whollj-  reliable. 

"The  mean  temperature  of  the  months,  October  to 
April,  both  inclusive,  are  as  follows:  October,  33  de- 
grees; November,  8  degrees;  December,  11  degrees 
below  zero;  Januaiy,  17  degrees  below  zero;  February, 
15  degrees  below  zero;  March,  6  degrees  above  zero; 
April,  20  degrees  above  zero.  The  daily  mean  tempera- 
ture fell  and  remained  below  the  freezing  point  (32) 
from  November  4tli  to  April  21st,  thus  giving  108  days 
as  the  length  of  the  closed  season,  assuming  the  out- 
door operations  are  controlled  hj  temperature  only. 

"The  lowest  temperatures  registered  during  that 
winter  were:  32  degrees  below  zero  in  November,  47 
below  in  December,  59  below  in  January,  55  below  in 
February,  45  below  in  March,  2G  below  in  April. 

"The  greatest  continuous  cold  occurred  in  February, 
when  the  daily  mean  for  live  consecutive  days  was  47 
degrees  below  zero.  The  weather  moderated  slightly 
about  the  first  of  March,  but  the  temperature  still  re- 
mained below  the  freezing  point.  Generally  cloudy 
weather  prevailed,  there  being  but  three  consecutive 
days  in  any  month  with  clear  weather  during  the  whole 


THE  KLONDIKE  REGION.  350 

Avinter.  Snow  fell  on  about  one-third  of  the  days  in 
wiutei',  and  a  less  number  in  the  early  spring  and  late 
fall  months.  In  the  interior,  the  winter  sets  in  as 
early  as  September,  when  snow  storms  may  be  expected 
in  the  mountains  and  passes.  Ileadwaj^  during  one  of 
these  storms  is  impossible,  and  the  traveler  who  is  over- 
taken in  one  of  them  is  indeed  fortunate  if  he  escapes 
with  his  life.  Snow  storms  of  great  severity  may  occur 
in  any  month  from  September  to  May,  inclusive." 

The  changes  of  temperature  from  winter  to  summer 
are  rapid,  owing  to  the  great  increase  in  the  length  of 
the  da}^  In  May  the  sun  rises  at  about  3  a.  m.  and  sets 
about  9  p.  m.  In  June  it  rises  about  1 :30  in  the  morn- 
ing and  sets  at  10:30  p.  m.,  giving  about  twenty  hours 
of  da^dight,  and  diffuse  twilight  the  remainder  of  the 
time. 

Notwithstanding  the  marked  variations  in  the 
climate  Alaska  is  essentially  a  healthy  country.  The 
only  prevailing  diseases  are  those  of  a  bronchial  nature, 
and  in  most  cases  these  troubles  can  be  directly  traced 
to  imprudent  exposure. 

The  snow  of  the  interior  partakes  much  of  the  char- 
acter of  frost,  sifting  slowl}^  down  in  intensely  cold 
weather  until  it  lies  several  inches  deep,  light  and 
fluffy;  but  at  times,  in  warm  weather,  it  thaws  and 
settles  into  a  hard  crust,  affording  excellent  surface  for 
sledding. 

The  great  precipitation  and  humidity  of  the  atmos- 
phere in  Southern  Alaska  cause  the  entire  coast  region 
to  be  clothed  in  a  mantle  of  perennial  green.  Vegeta- 
tion is  dense  and  the  forests  magnificent.  The  soil  is 
rich,  though  in  the  heavily  timbered  region  it  is  shal- 


.300  AL  ONG  A  LA  SKA 'S  UREA  T  Rl  \  ER. 

low,  aud  from  the  most  eastern  point  of  the  territory 
to  Kodiak  root  crops  are  easily  grown. 

The  numerous  islands  that  skirt  the  coast  of  Alaska, 
the  great  plains  of  the  interior,  intersected  by  deep 
rivers,  gigantic  snow-crowned  mountains,  the  active 
volcanoes  aud  the  mighty  ice  fields,  with  many  other 
singular,  beautiful  and  awe-inspiring  gifts  of  nature 
combine  to  make  the  country  of  the  new  gold  fields  one 
of  notable  grandeur  and  wonder. 

The  great  rivers  of  the  interior  drain  immense  val- 
leys, with  mountain  ranges  everywhere  visible.  Lakes 
are  abundant,  often  surrounded  by  tundra  or  swamps, 
vei*y  frequentl}^  impenetrable,  covered  with  brush,  rank 
grasses,  and  other  vegetation.  After  the  interior  is 
reached — and  by  this  is  meant  after  the  coast  moun- 
tains are  crossed,  in  many  places  only  twenty  or  thirty 
miles  from  the  coast — the  soft  earth  and  luxuriant  vege- 
tation of  the  coast  country  give  place  to  frozen  ground, 
and  lichens  and  mosses  on  the  mountain  sides  and  in 
the  valleys.  But  though  the  vast  plains  of  the  interior 
are  within  the  grasp  of  the  ice  king  for  eight  months  of 
the  year,  with  the  advent  of  the  long  days  of  summer, 
water  runs,  flowers  bloom,  and  grasses  spring  into  life 
as  if  b}"  magic,  and  their  growth  is  at  once  luxuriant 
and  rapid,  even  though  in  many  places  the  soil  is  never 
thawed  beyond  a  fcnv  inches  below  the  surface.  In  the 
far  north,  at  St.  Michael,  and  at  Point  Barrow,  wells 
have  been  dug  through  sixty  feet  of  solid  ice,  and  the 
same  condition  has  been  noted  on  the  Yukon,  at  Forty- 
Mile. 


THE  KLOXDIKE  RE  (HON.  361 

The  effect  of  the  wide  climatic  ranges  is  manifest  iu 
the  faima  and  flora  of  the  territory.  The  former  corre- 
sponds xery  closel}'  to  the  sub-arctic  type;  the  latter 
presents  a  variety  of  brilliance  and  sobriety  at  once  de- 
lightful and  astonishing.  The  animals  belong  largely 
to  the  fur-bearing  species,  though  natives  of  more  tem- 
perate regions  survive  and  even  thrive  with  proper  carc\ 

Agriculture  will  probably  never  be  successful  in  that 
region,  for  the  season  is  too  short  and  crops  are  too  un- 
certain of  maturity.  In  the  Yukon  basin  vegetables  of 
the  hardier  sorts  do  fairly  w^ell.  Turnips,  radishes, 
and  salad  plants  and  even  potatoes  have  been  success- 
fully cultivated  at  St.  Michael  and  at  Fort  Yukon. 

At  Fort  Selkirk  gardening  has  produced  some  results 
that  are  very  pleasing  both  in  size  and  variety.  The 
whole  Yukon  basin  raises  fine  berries  and  grass,  but 
other  crops  are  hard  to  mature,  and  though  the  fodder 
is  plenty  and  good,  the  long,  severe  winter  precludes 
success  in  stock  raising.  The  timber  of  the  Yukon  is 
principally  willow,  alder,  cottonwood,  spruce,  low  fir, 
hemlock  and  birch.  North  of  the  basin  the  growths  be- 
come stunted  and  finally  disappear. 

William  Ogilvie,  Dominion  Land  Surveyor,  rejwrted 
on  this  region  to  the  Canadian  Department  of  the  In- 
terior, as  follows: 

"The  agricultural  capabilities  of  the  country  along 
the  river  are  not  great,  nor  is  the  land  that  can  be  seen 
from  the  river  of  good  quality.  When  we  consider 
further  the  unfavorable  climatic  conditions  that  prevail 
in  the  region,  it  may  be  said  that  as  an  agricultural  dis- 
trict this  portion  of  the  country  will  never  be  of  any 
value. 


362  AL  OXG  A  LA  SKA 'S  QBE  A  T  III  VER. 

"Along  the  east  side  of  Lake  Bennett,  opposite  the 
Chilkoot  or  western  arm,  there  are  some  flats  of  dry, 
gravellj  soil,  which  would  make  a  few  farms  of  limited 
extent.  On  the  west  side,  around  the  mouth  of  Whea- 
tou  Kiver,  there  is  an  extensive  flat  of  sand  and  <> ravel, 
covered  with  small  pine  and  spruce  of  stunted  «>Towth. 

"Along  the  western  shore  of  Tagish  Lake  there  is  a 
large  extent  of  low,  swampy  flats,  a  part  of  which  might 
be  used  for  the  production  of  such  roots  and  cereals  as 
the  climate  would  permit.  Along  the  west  side  of 
Marsh  Lake  there  is  also  much  flat  surface  of  the  same 
general  character,  on  which  I  saw  some  coarse  grass 
which  would  serve  as  food  for  cattle.  Along  the  east 
side  the  surface  appeared  higher  and  terraced,  and  is 
probabl}'  less  suited  to  the  requirements  of  the  agri- 
culturist. Along  the  bead  of  the  river,  for  some  miles 
below  Marsh  Lake,  there  are  flats  on  botli  sides,  which 
would,  as  far  as  surface  confirmation  goes,  serve  as 
farms.  The  soil  is  of  much  better  quality  than  any 
heretofore  seen,  as  is  proven  b}^  the  larger  and  thicker 
growth  of  timber  and  underbrush  which  it  supports. 
The  soil  bears  less  the  character  of  detritus,  and  more 
that  of  alluvium,  than  that  seen  above. 

"On  the  lower  end  of  the  lake,  on  the  west  side,  there 
is  also  a  considerable  ])lain  which  might  be  utilized; 
the  soil  in  ])arts  of  it  is  good.  T  saw  one  part  where  the 
timl)er  had  been  burned  some  time  ago;  here  both  the 
soil  and  vegetation  were  good,  and  two  or  three  of  the 
plants  seen  are  common  in  tliis  part  of  Ontario,  but 
they  had  not  tlie  vigorous  appearance  which  the  same 
plants  have  East. 

"Northward  from  the  end  of  tlie  hike  there  is  a  deep 


THE  KLONDIKE  REGION.  363 

wide  valley,  which  Dr.  Dawson  has  named  'Ogilvie  Val- 
ley.' In  this  the  mixed  timber,  poplar  and  spruce,  is  of 
a  size  which  betokens  a  fair  soil;  the  herbage,  too,  is 
more  than  usually  rich  for  this  region.  This  valley  is 
extensive,  and,  if  ever  required  as  an  aid  in  the  susten- 
ance of  our  people,  will  figure  largely  in  the  district's 
agricultural  assets. 

"Below  the  lake  the  valley  of  the  river  is  not,  as  a 
rule,  wide,  and  the  banks  are  often  steep  and  high. 
There  are,  however,  many  flats  of  moderate  extent  along 
the  river  and  at  its  confluence  with  other  streams.  The 
soil  of  many  of  these  is  fair. 

"About  forty  miles  above  the  mouth  of  the  Pelly 
River  there  is  an  extensive  flat  on  both  sides  of  the 
Lewes.  The  soil  here  is  poor  and  sandy,  with  small 
open  timber.  At  Pelly  River  there  is  a  flat  of  consider- 
able extent  on  which  the  ruins  of  Fort  Selkirk  stand. 
It  is  covered  with  a  small  growth  of  poplar  and  some 
spruce.  The  soil  is  a  gravelly  loam  of  about  eight 
inches  in  depth.  This  flat  extends  up  the  river  for  some 
miles,  but  is  all  covered  thickly  with  timber  except  a 
small  piece  around  the  site  of  the  fort. 

"I  think  ten  townships  or  360  square  miles,  would  be 
a  very  liberal  estimate  of  all  the  places  mentioned  along 
the  river.  This  gives  us  230,400  acres,  or,  say  1,000 
farms.  The  available  lands  on  the  affluence  of  the  riv- 
ers would  probably  double  this,  or  give  2,000  farms  in 
that  part  of  our  territory,  but  on  most  of  the  farms  the 
returns  would  be  meager.  Without  the  discovery  and 
development  of  large  mineral  wealth,  it  is  not  likely  that 
the  slender  agricultural  resources  of  the  country  will 
ever  attract  attention.     In  the  event  of  such  discovery 


364  ALU  \(1  ALA  SKA  \S  ORE  A  T  III  VER. 

however,  some  of  the  hind  might  be  used  for  the  pro- 
duction of  vegetabk^  food  for  the  miners,  but  even  in 
that  case  with  the  traus])ort  facilities  which  the  district 
commands  it  is  very  doubtful  if  it  could  compete  suc- 
cessfully with  the  South  and  East. 

"The  amount  of  timber  fit  for  use  in  building  and 
manufacturing-  in  the  district  along  the  river  is  not  at 
all  important.  There  is  a  large  extent  of  forest  which 
would  yiehl  firewood  and  timber  for  use  in  mines,  but 
for  the  manufacture  of  lumber  there  is  very  little.  The 
gTeat  bulk  of  the  timber  in  the  district  suitable  for 
manufacturing  the  lumber  is  to  be  found  on  the  islands 
in  the  river.  On  them  the  soil  is  warmer  and  richer, 
the  sun's  rajs  striking  the  surface  for  a  much  longer 
time  and  more  dii'ectly  than  on  the  banks. 

"To  estimate  the  quantity  of  timber  in  the  vicinity  of 
the  river,  I  would  say  that  one-fourth  of  the  area  I 
have  given  as  agricultural  land  would  be  a  fair  con- 
jecture, but  it  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  there  is  not 
more  than  a  square  mile  or  so  of  that  in  any  one  place, 
and  most  of  the  timber  would  be  small  and  poor, 

"It  may  be  said  that  the  country  might  furnish  much 
timber,  which,  though  not  fit  to  be  classed  as  merchant- 
able, would  meet  many  other  requirements  of  the  only 
industry  the  country  is  ever  likely  to  have,  viz.,  mining." 

Surveyor  Ogilvie's  official  report  on  the  fauna  of  the 
Klondike  district  is  in  the  main  as  follows: 

"The  principal  furs  procured  in  the  district  are  the 
silver  graj^  and  black  fox,  the  number  of  which  bears  a 
greater  ratio  to  the  number  of  red  foxes  than  in  any 
other  part  of  the  country.     The  red  fox  is  very  common, 


Indian  Packers  Fording  a  River 


THE  KLONDIKE  REUloy.  3G5 

aud  a  species  called  the  blue,  is  very  abimdaiit  uear  tlie 
coast.  Marten,  or  sable,  are  also  numerous,  as  are 
Ijnx,  but  otter  are  scarce,  and  beaver  almost  unknown. 
It  is  probable  that  the  value  of  gray  and  black  fox 
skins  taken  out  of  the  country  more  than  equals  in 
value  all  the  other  furs. 

"Game  is  not  now  as  abundant  as  before  mining  be- 
gan, and  it  is  difficult,  in  fact,  impossible,  to  get  any 
close  to  the  river.  A  boom  in  mining  would  soon  ex- 
terminate the  game  in  the  district  along  the  river. 

"There  are  two  species  of  caribou  in  the  country,  one, 
the  ordinary  kind  found  in  most  parts  of  the  Northwest, 
and  said  to  much  resemble  the  reindeer;  the  other, 
called  the  wood  caribou,  a  much  larger  and  more  beauti- 
ful animal.  Except  that  the  antlers  are  much  smaller 
it  appears  to  me  to  resemble  the  elk  or  wapiti.  The  or- 
dinary caribou  runs  in  herds  often  numbering  hun- 
dreds. 

"There  are  four  species  of  bear  found  in  the  district — 
the  grisly,  brown,  black,  and  a  small  kind  locally 
known  as  the  silver-tip,  the  last  being  gvaj  in  color, 
with  a  white  throat  and  beard,  w^hence  its  name.  It  is 
said  to  be  fierce  and  not  to  wait  to  be  attacked,  but  to 
attack  on  sight.  I  had  not  the  pleasure  of  seeing  any, 
but  heard  many  'yarns'  about  them,  some  of  which  I 
think  were  'hunters'  tales.'  It  appears,  however,  that 
miners  and  Indians,  unless  traveling  in  numbers,  or 
especiall}'  well  armed,  give  them  as  wide  a  berth  as  they 
conveniently  can. 

"Wolves  are  not  plentiful.  A  few  of  the  common 
gray  species  only  are  killed,  the  black  being  very  scarce. 

"The  Arctic  rabbit  or  hare  is  sometimes  found,  but 


3(;6  ALONG  ALASKA'S  GREAT  RlVFJi. 

they  are  not  innncrous,  Tliei'e  is  a  curious  fact  in  con- 
nection with  tlie  oidiiiai-y  hare  or  rabbit,  which  I  have 
observed,  bnt  of  which  I  have  never  yet  seen  any  satis- 
factoiy  exphuiation.  Their  numbers  vary  from  the 
veiy  few  to  myriads  in  periods  of  seven  years. 

"The  Alaskan  birds  include  the  j^rouse,  ptarini<>an, 
snipe,  mallard  and  teal  dnck,  goose,  loon,  gi'ay  and  bald 
eagle,  sea  paiTot,  gulls,  auks  and  many  other  sea  fowls. 
The  sea  birds  supply  the  Indians  with  a  profitable  pur- 
suit, gathering  their  eggs  from  the  rocks.  The  eggs  are 
a  staple  article  of  diet  with  the  natives. 

"The  food  fishes  are  numerous,  but  the  salmon  easily 
leads  them  all  in  importance,  and  the  canning  and 
drying  of  this  dainty  fish  make  the  third  industry-  of  thi^ 
teiTitory,  gold  being  now  the  first,  of  course,  and  furs 
the  second." 

No  account  of  the  animal  life  of  the  Klondike  district 
Avould  be  complete  without  mention  of  the  insects, 
which  make  life  a  burden  during  the  summer  in  the  in- 
terior. In  the  summer  season  when  the  days  are  some- 
times really  hot  there  are  swarms  of  mosquitoes  and 
gnats  which  have  not  their  equal  in  the  world,  and 
which  are  enough  alone  to  discourage  most  men.  The 
horse  fl}^  is  larger  than  the  insect  of  the  same  name  in 
the  United  States.  In  a  preceding  chapter  Schwatka 
reports  that  one  of  his  party,  bitten  by  a  horse  fly,  was 
completely  disabled  for  a  week.  lie  adds,  "At  the 
moments  of  infliction  it  was  hard  to  believe  that  one 
was  not  disabled  for  life. 

"The  mosquitoes  are  equally  distressing.  Accord- 
ing to  the  general  terms  of  the  survival  of  the  fittest  and 
the  growth  of  muscles  most  used  to  the  detriment  of 


THE  KLONDIKE  REGION.  3G7 

others,  a  band  of  cattle  inhabitini^-  this  district  in  the 
far  future,  would  be  all  tail  and  no  body,  unless  the 
mosquitoes  should  experience  a  change  of  numbers. 

"The  Indians  smear  the  hands  and  face  with  a  mix- 
ture of  grease  and  soot,  which  prevents  the  pest  from 
biting.  At  some  seasons  in  this  country  they  are  in  such 
dense  swarms  that  at  night  they  will  practically  cover 
a  mosquito  netting,  fairly  touching  each  other  and 
crowding  through  any  kind  of  mesh.  I  have  heard  it 
asserted  by  people  of  experience  that  they  form  co- 
operative societies  and  assist  each  other  through  the 
meshes  by  pushing  behind  and  pulling  in  front." 


DISCOVERY  AND  HISTORY. 

The  actual  discovery  of  tlie  great  northwestern  pea- 
jnsula  of  the  American  continent  cannot  be  dated  fur- 
ther back  than  the  middle  part  of  the  eighteenth  cen- 
tury. Its  remoteness  from  the  centres  of  European 
settlement  and  from  the  lines  of  trade  and  travel,  and 
5rs  mhospitable  climate  made  Alaska  one  of  the  latest 
regions  to  yield  to  the  advances  of  the  explorer,  sur- 
veyor and  settler.  At  a  date  when  the  colonies  on  me 
North  Atlantic  coast  of  America  numbered  millions  of 
prosj^erous  people,  already  j)reparing  to  take  indepen- 
dent rank  among  the  nations  of  the  world,  the  very 
existence  of  this  enormous  country  was  unknown.  At 
a  very  early  date,  however,  voyagers  from  many  lands 
began  their  advances  toward  the  far  Northwest,  and  the 
story  of  the  discovery  of  Alaska  must  naturally  include 
a  brief  outline  of  these. 

As  early  as  1542  the  Spanish  adventurers  Coronado 
and  Juan  Rodriguez  de  Cabrillo  went  uj)  the  Pacific 
coast  of  Mexico,  and  sailed  for  some  distance  along  the 
coast  of  what  is  now  the  State  of  California.  The 
memory  of  the  former  has  been  locally  honored  in  Cali- 
fornia in  the  name  of  Coronado  Beach.  At  tliis  time 
the  Spanish  considered  themselves  sole  masters  of  the 
South  Sea,  as  the  Pacific  was  called,  and  of  all  lands 
bordering  upon  it.  But  their  supremacy  there  was  soon 
disputed  by  the  intrepid  Sir  Francis  Drake.  He  not 
only  ravaged  their  South  American  seaports,  but,  in 


DISCO  VER  Y  AND  EISTOR  Y,  86'j 

1579,  sailed  far  to  northward  in  a  little  scliooner  of  two 
hundred  tons,  entered  the  Golden  Gate,  and  refitted  his 
vessel  in  what  is  now  the  harbor  of  San  Francisco. 
Thirteen  years  later  the  Spaniards  pressed  still  further 
up  the  coast.  Apostolos  Yalerianos,  best  known  as 
Juan  de  Fuca,  sailed  from  Mexico  and  j)assed  through 
the  straits  that  bear  his  name,  and  discovered  Puget 
Sound.  There  adventure  from  the  south  made  j^aiise 
for  many  years,  still  a  weary  distance  from  the  Alaskan 
peninsula. 

More  than  a  hundred  years  after  the  voyages  of  Cor- 
onado,  a  different  people,  from  a  different  direction,  be- 
gan to  move  toward  the  same  goal.  These  were  the 
Russians,  who  had  already  taken  possession  of  the  greater 
part  of  Siberia,  and  who  were  now  persistently  pushing 
on  to  the  occupation  of  the  whole  realm  between  the 
Baltic  and  the  Pacific.  They  had  already  gone  east- 
ward as  far  as  the  Kolyma  Kiver,  and  possessed  the 
town  of  Nijni  Kolymsk,  in  about  160°  degrees  east 
longitude.  In  1646  they  advanced  still  further.  Isai 
Ignatieff,  with  several  small  vessels,  sailed  from  the 
Kolyma,  and  effected  a  landing  on  Tchaun  Bay,  in  the 
country  of  the  Tchukchees.  He  found  the  trade  in 
walrus  ivory  so  profitable  that  his  example  was  soon 
followed  by  others.  The  very  next  year  the  Cossack 
Simeon  Deshneff,  with  four  vessels,  sailed  eastward,  to 
take  possession  of  all  the  land  in  the  name  of  the  Kus- 
eian  crown.  The  Anadyr  River,  of  which  reports  had 
been  heard  from  the  natives,  was  his  goal.  At  the  same 
time,  Michael  Stadukin  led  an  expedition  overland  in 
the  same  direction.  But  both  these  enterprises  failed. 
The  year  1648,  however,  saw  Deshneff 's  venture  re- 


370  ALONG  ALASKA'S  GREAT  RIVER. 

peated.  Three  ships  sailed  for  the  Anadyr,  commanded 
respectively  by  Simeon  Deshneff,  Gerasim  Ankudinoff, 
and  Feodor  Alexieff.  They  reached  Behring  Strait, 
not  knowing  it  was  a  strait,  and  Ankudinoff's  vessel 
was  wrecked  on  East  Cape.  He  and  his  men  were  taken 
on  the  other  vessels,  and  the  expedition  kept  on.  Desh- 
neff made  his  way  around  Caj^e  Navarin  and  Cape 
Olintorski  to  the  coast  of  Kamtchatka.  There  his  ves- 
sel was  wrecked  and  he  and  his  men  made  their  way 
home  overland,  surveying,  as  they  went,  ^le  Anadyr 
River.  Again  in  1652  Deshneff  exjilored  the  Anadyr, 
in  a  boat,  and  the  next  year  2:)lanned  a  trade-route,  by 
sea,  from  that  river  to  Yakutsk,  on  the  Lena. 

Many  other  expeditions  to  Kamtchatka  and  the  west- 
ern part  of  Behring  Sea  were  soon  thereafter  made. 
Taras  Stadukin  in  1654  discovered  the  westernmost 
Kuril!  Islands,  and  sailed  round  Kamtchatka  into  Pen- 
jinsk  Bay.  In  1696,  Lucas  Simeonoff  Moroscovich  ex- 
plored Kamtchatka  by  land,  and  during  the  next  year 
the  Cossack  Vladimir  Atlassoff  followed  him  thither 
and  by  force  of  arms  made  the  Kamtchatdales  subjects 
of  the  Czar.  This  conquest  was  marked  by  wholesale 
butcheries  of  the  helj^less  natives,  and  confiscation  of 
their  goods.  The  conquest  of  the  Tchukchees  was  at- 
tempted in  1701,  but  failed,  as  did  a  second  expedition 
against  them  ten  years  later.  This  latter,  however,  un- 
der the  Cossack  Peter  Iliunsen  Potoff,  in  1711,  had  one 
highly-important  result.  It  brought  back  definite  re- 
ports of  the  narrowness  of  Behring  Strait,  of  the  loca- 
tion of  the  Diomedes  Islands,  and  of  the  proximity  of 
the  American  continent.  Then,  for  some  years,  all  fur- 
ther advance  was  stayed. 


DISCO  VFB  Y  AND  BISTOR 1 .  371 

The  next  nivjvement  was  undertaken  by  uo  leso  a,  per- 
sonage than  Peter  the  Great, 

" tliat  Czar 

Who  made  of  tribes  an  Empire." 

It  was  at  the  end  of  his  reign  and  life.  Two  passions 
moved  him.  One  was  the  zeal  for  scientific  exjoloration 
and  knowledge  of  the  world ;  the  other,  the  desire  to 
extend  his  domiiiion  across  the  Arctic  borders  of  another 
continent.  Accordingly  in  1725  he  planned  a  great 
expedition,  drew  up  full  instructions  with  his  own  hand, 
and  delivered  them  to  Admiral  Apraxin ;  then  died. 
His  widow,  who  became  Autocrat  in  his  stead,  ordered 
the  plan  fulfilled,  and  it  was  done  promptly.  On  Feb- 
ruary 5th,  1725,  the  chief  members  of  the  exj^edition  set 
out  from  St.  Petersburg,  their  leader  and  commander 
being  the  illustrious  Captain  Vitus  Behring. 

The  explorers  made  their  way  by  slow  stages  to 
Okhotsk.  There  they  built  two  ships,  the  "  Fortuna  "  and 
the  "Gabriel,"  and  on  July  20th,  1728,  set  sail  on  their 
adventurous  voyage.  On  this  occasion  they  contented 
themselves  v*^ith  traversing  Behring  Strait,  and  returned 
without  seeing  the  American  coast  or  even  the  Diom- 
edes  Islands.  A  second  voyage,  in  1729,  was  altogether 
fruitless,  and  in  the  spring  of  1730  Behring  returned  to 
St.  Petersburg  without  having  achieved  a  single  work 
of  importance  or  won  the  first  fraction  of  his  later  fame. 
But  one  of  the  objects  of  his  expedition  was  presently 
attained  by  others,  accidentally.  The  Yakutsk  Cos- 
sacks, under  Athanasius  Shestakoff,  had  been  for  years 
fighting  to  subdue  the  indomitable  Tchukchees,  with 
little  success.  A  party  of  them  took  the  ship  "  Fortma,^ 
abandoned  by  Behring,  to  make  a  war-like  cruise    iong 


872  ALONG  ALASKA'iS  GREAT  RIVER. 

the  Icliukchee  coast.  They  were  soon  wrecked  in 
Peiijiii.sk  Bay,  and  were  routed  in  battle  with  the 
Tchukchees.  But  the  engineer  and  navigator  of  the 
expedition,  Michael  Gvvosdeff,  made  a  boat  from  the 
wreck  of  the  "  Fortuna,"  and  with  his  surviving  comrades 
sailed  to  the  Anadyr  Bivcr.  Thence  they  sailed  to 
Cape  Serdze,  expecting  there  to  meet  a  Cossack  expedi- 
tion from  overland.  In  this  they  were  disappointed. 
And  presently  a  great  storm  arose  from  the  eastward 
and  dove  them,  hel^^less,  before  it.  Right  across  the 
strait  they  were  driven,  to  the  American  coast.  Upon 
the  latter,  however,  they  could  make  no  landing.  The 
shore  was  inhospitable  and  the  storm  was  furious.  For 
two  days  they  cruised  along  the  coast,  and  then,  the 
storm  abating,  made  their  way  back  to  Asia. 

Despite  the  failure  of  his  first  exj^edition,  Behring 
was  received  with  honors  and  promotion  at  the  Bussian 
capital,  and  j)rej)arations  were  pressed  for  another  ven- 
ture under  his  command.  For  several  years' he  was  en- 
gaged in  voyages  along  the  Siberian  coast,  and  to  Japan. 
But  in  1741  the  great  achievement  of  his  life  began. 
His  pilot,  Ivan  Jelagin,  had  gone  to  Avatcha  with  two 
ships,  the  "  St.  Peter  "  and  the  "  St.  Paul."  On  Niakina 
Bay  he  hadfounded  the  town  of  Petropaulovsk,  named  for 
the  vessels.  Thither  went  Wilhelm  Steller,  the  Fran- 
conian  naturalist,  and  Louis  de  Lisle  de  la  Croyere. 
Thither,  finally,  went  Behring,  and  on  June  4tli,  1741, 
sailed  for  America.  On  June  20th  the  two  vessels  were 
parted  by  a  storm,  and  did  not  come  together  again ; 
nor  did  Behring  and  Chirikoff,  their  commanders,  ever 
meet  again  in  this  world.  Chirikoff,  in  the  "  St.  Paul," 
made  quickest  progress.     On  July   15th  he  reached  the 


DISCOVERY  AND  HISTORY.  373 

American  coast,  and  anchored  in  Cross  Sound.  His 
mate,  Dementieff,  and  ten  armed  men,  in  the  long  boat, 
went  ashore.  They  did  not  return,  and  on  July  21st 
Sidor  Saveleff  with  other  armed  men  went  after  them, 
in  the  only  other  boat  of  the  "  St.  Paul."  They  did  not 
return  either.  But  the  next  day  two  canoes  filled  w^ith 
savages  came  from  the  shore  toward  the  ship,  show^ing 
only  too  plainly  wdiat  had  become  of  the  landing 
parties.  The  savages  did  not  venture  to  attack  the 
ehip,  but  Chirikoff  had  no  more  boats  in  wdiich  to  effect 
a  landing.  So  on  July  27th  he  weighed  anchor  and 
sailed  back  for  Kamtchatka.  He  passed  by  numerous 
islands,  and  on  October  9th  re-entered  the  harbor  of 
Petropaulovsk.  Twenty-one  of  his  seventy  men  had 
perished ;  among  them  Louis  de  Lisle  de  la  Croyere, 
the  French  naturalist,  who  died  of  scurvy  on  the  day 
of  their  return. 

The  "  St.  Peter,"  with  Behring  and  his  comrades  on 
board,  meanwhile,  w^as  driven  blindly  through  tempest 
and  fog  toward  the  Alaskan  coast.  On  Sunday,  July 
18th,  he  reached  the  land  and  disembarked.  He  was 
at  the  foot  of  some  low,  desolate  bluff  which  skirted  the 
shore  for  a  long  distance,  and  beyond  w^hich  rose  the 
savage  splendors  of  Mt.  St.  Elias  and  the  Arctic  Alps. 
The  spot  was  near  what  is  now  called  Kayak  Island. 
For  six  weeks  Behring  tarried  in  that  neighborhood, 
refitting  his  storm-strained  shij),  laying  aboard  supplies 
of  water  and  food,  and  making  a  few  exjDlorations  of  the 
coast.  The  two  capes  between  which  he  landed  he 
named  St.  Elias  and  Hermogenes.  Here  the  naturalist 
Steller  lound  many  interesting  traces  of  the  natives. 
Going   further   north,  into   Prince   AVilliam's   Sound, 


374  ALONG  ALASKA'S  GREAT  RIVER. 

Beliring  became  confused  by  the  number  of  islands  and 
the  difficulties  of  navigation,  and  abtindoned  the  direc- 
tion of  the  vescel  to  Lieutenant  Waxel.  They  kept  on, 
[)ast  the  Kenai  Peninsula,  past  Kadiak  Island,  and 
down  the  coast  of  the  slender  Alaska  Peninsula,  to  the 
southwest,  until  they  reached  a  group  of  islands  which 
they  named  Shumagin,  for  a  member  of  the  company 
who  died  and  was  buried  there.  This  was  on  August 
29tli.  On  Sej)tember  od  a  terrific  storm  arose,  before 
which  they  were  driven,  helpless,  far  out  into  the  Nortli 
Pacific,  southward  to  latitude  48°.  Scurvy  broke  out 
among  them  with  fatal  force,  and  the  disheartened  men 
resolved  to  return  to  Kamtchatka. 

Thenceforward  for  weeks  they  suffered  almost  in- 
credible hardshii^s.  Every  one  was  suffering  from 
scurvy.  So  weakened  were  they  by  disease  and  famine 
that  it  took  three  men  to  hold  the  helm.  Only  a  few 
sails  were  used,  for  the  men  were  not  able  to  hoist  and 
manage  more.  When  these  were  torn  away  by  the 
storms,  the  helpless  craft  drifted  under  bare  poles.  The 
weather  was  a  chaos  of  wind  and  fog  and  snow.  For 
weeks  they  drifted  blindly,  now  eastward,  now  westward, 
scarcely  hoping  to  see  land  again,  and  utterly  ignorant 
of  the  part  of  the  ocean  into  which  they  had  been  borne. 
But  on  November  4tli  a  particularly  furious  gale  drove 
them  aslioie  on  an  unknown  coast.  They  were  in  the 
southeastern  part  of  Beliring  Sea,  on  one  of  the  Kom- 
mandorski  group  of  islands.  The  vessel  Avas  completely 
wrecked,  and  the  men  built  huts  on  the  shore  for  winter 
i|u;irU'is.  "Wnxel  was  still  in  command.  Beliring  was 
a  victim  to  natural  stupidity,  constitutional  cowardice, 
and   scurvy.      All    throuirli    the  dreadful  vovaoe  from 


DISCO  VER  Y  AND  HIST  OR  Y.  375 

Jhriiice  AVilllam  Sound  he  had  remained  in  his  cabin, 
shivering  in  abject  terror.  A  fe^Y  weeks  after  landing, 
on  December  8th  he  died.  In  honor  of  him  his  men 
named  the  island  Behring  Island,  and  the  group  the 
Kommandorski,  while  Behring  Strait  and  Behring  Sea 
in  their  names  give  immortality  to  one  of  the  least 
worthy  of  men.  Waxel,  Steller,  and  the  others  re- 
mained on  Behring  Island  all  that  winter,  feeding  on 
the  flesh  of  sea-lions  and  the  monster  Arctic  manatee  or 
sea-cow,  now  extinct.  They  collected  a  considerable 
store  of  furs  of  the  sea-otter,  blue  fox  and  other  animals, 
which  they  took  back  to  Russia  and  thus  greatly  stimu- 
lated the  zeal  of  further  conquest.  In  the  summer  of 
1742  they  made  their  way  to  Petropaulovsky  in  a  boat 
constructed  from  the  wreck  of  their  ship.  AVaxel 
reached  St.  Petersburg  with  the  official  report  of  the 
expedition  in  1749. 

Thenceforward  the  greed  of  gain  led  many  Russian 
adventurers  to  the  waters  and  shores  of  Behring  Sea. 
Emilian  Bassoff  discovered  Attoo  Island,  the  western- 
most of  the  Aleutian  chain,  in  1745,  and  Michael  No- 
vodtsikoff,  in  the  same  year,  discovered  other  islands 
near  by,  and  got  a  rich  cargo  of  furs.  Other  explorers, 
who  followed  up  the  Aleutian  chain  w^ere  Ribinski,  in 
1748;  Trapesnikoff,  in  1749;  Yagoff,  in  1750;  and 
Ivan  Nikiforoff,  who  reached  Unimak  Island  in  1757. 
Simon  Krasilnikoff,  Maxim  Lazeroff  and  others  kept 
up  the  work  of  discovering  islands,  getting  furs,  and 
massacreing  the  natives.  The  Andreanoffsky  Islands 
were  discovered  in  1761,  and  named  in  honor  of 
Andrean  Tolstoi,  wdio  fitted  out  Lazeroff' s  expedition. 
In  tha  winter  of  1761-2,  Pushkareff  and  his  men  lived 


376  ALONG  ALASKA'S  GREAT  RIVER. 

on  tlie  shore  of  False  Pass.  They  were  the  first  tc 
spend  a  winter  on  the  mainland  of  Alaska.  The  atroci- 
ties committed  by  them  excited  the  hostility  of  the 
natives,  and  they  were  glad  to  get  away  in  August, 
1762.  They  took  with  them  thirty  natives,  mostly 
women,  as  2:)risoners  and  slaves ;  but  on  the  voyage 
home  they  wantonly  murdered  them  all  except  two. 

War  to  the  knife  thereafter  prevailed  among  the 
natives  and  the  Russians.  The  latter  waged  it  with  the 
most  ferocious  energy,  but  were  by  no  means  always 
victors.  A  whole  expedition  of  fifty  men  was  destroyed 
on  Unimak  Island  in  1762 ;  and  a  similar  party  met 
the  same  fiitein  1763,  on  Ounalaska.  Indeed,  for  years 
the  history  of  Russian  progress  in  Alaska  was  one  of 
unrelieved  horror,  an  inferno  of  lust,  torture  and 
death. 

And  now  the  advance  of  the  Spanish  and  others  from 
the  southward  was  resumed.  Juan  Perez  sailed  from 
Monterey  in  1774,  and  discovered  Queen  Charlotte 
Island  and  Nootka  Sound.  The  next  year  Bruno 
Heceta  discovered  the  mouth  of  the  Oregon  or  Columbia 
River.  Then  the  famous  English  navigator,  James 
Cook,  came  upon  the  scene.  In  1778  he  reached 
Nootka  Sound  ;  saw  and  named  Mount  St.  Elias  ;  ex- 
plored Cook's  Inlet ;  stoj^ped  for  a  time  at  Ounalaska ; 
sailed  up  Behring  Sea,  through  Behring  Strait,  to  Icy 
Cape;  explored  Xorton  Sound  and  the  adjacent  waters; 
touched  again  at  Ounalaska ;  and  then  sailed  away  to 
the  Sandwich  Islands,  where  he  was  killed  in  February, 
1779.  In  these  few  months  this  immortal  Yorkshire 
man  and  his  Connecticut  and  Virginia  comrades  had 
done  more  active  work  of  discovery  and  survey  than 


DISCOVERY  AND  HISTORY.  377 

all  the  Kussian  pillagers  who  had  frequented  that  part 
of  the  >«f  orld  for  seventy-five  years  before. 

The  first  permanent  industrial  and  commercial  settle- 
ment was  effected  by  the  Russians  under  Shelikoff  on 
Kadiak  Island  in  1783.  Three  years  later  the  ill-fated 
La  Perouse  visited  the  Alaskan  coast  and  saw  Mt.  St. 
Elias.  In  1787,  two  Russians,  Lastochkin  and  Priby- 
Icff,  discovered  two  islands  in  the  southeast  part  of 
Behrina:  Sea,  which  have  since  become  of  enormous 
value.  They  named  them  St.  Paul  and  St.  George,  and 
called  them  together  the  Suboff  Islands.  They  are  now 
known,  however,  as  the  Pribyloff  Islands,  and  are 
famous  as  one  of  the  chief  homes  of  the  fur  seals. 

The  Russian  Government,  about  1788,  formally  laid 
claim  to  all  the  Alaskan  lands  and  waters,  and  even  to 
the  northern  part  of  the  Pacific  Ocean.  At  the  same 
time  the  Spanish  and  English  laid  conflicting  claims  to 
the  region  about  Nootka  Sound,  and  in  1789  came  into 
violent  conflict  there.  United  States  expeditions  were 
also  busy  with  explorations  in  that  region,  but  the 
Spaniards  made  no  objection  .o  their  presence.  Captain 
Gray,  of  the  "Washington,"  Captain  John  Kendrick,  of 
the  "Columbia,"  Captain  Metcalf,  of  the  "  Fair  American," 
Captain  Ingraham,  of  the  "  Hope,"  Captain  Crowell,  of 
the  "  Hancock,"  Captain  Roberts,  of  the  "Jefferson,"  and 
Captain  Magee,  of  the  "  Margaret,"  were  among  the 
Americans  conspicuous  in  exploration  and  trade,  chiefly 
about  Nootka  Sound  and  the  Straits  of  Juan  de  Fuca. 
Captain  George  Vancouver,  already  mentioned  as  a 
member  of  Cook's  expedition,  also  spent  much  time  in 
exploring  the  coast,  from  the  island  which  bears  his 
name  northward  to  the  Prince  of  Wales  Islands,  in  ti;e 


378  ALONG  ALASKA'S  GREAT  RIVER. 

British  service ;  and  Alexaiuler  Mackenzie  traveled 
across  the  continent  from  Canada  and  explored  the 
great  river  which  has  been  named  for  liim.  The  sur- 
veys  of  Vancouver  were  the  most  thorough  and  ac- 
curate that  had  been  made. 

To  return,  however,  to  the  Russians.  In  1782,  Gre- 
gory Shelikoff,  of  Rylsk,  Siberia,  a  man  of  great  ability 
and  energy,  of  remarkable  brutality,  and  of  unsurpassed 
unscrujJulousness,  entered  upon  an  imj^ortant  campaign 
for  the  establishment  of  trading  posts.  In  this  he  was 
accom2)anied  by  his  wife,  Natalie  Shelikoff,  a  woman  of 
extraordinary  ability.  In  1787,  the  Czarina  Catherine 
II,  gave  him  a  medal  in  recognition  of  his  services; 
and  in  1790,  by  an  imperial  ukase,  that  notorious  but 
brilliant  sovereign  gave  to  a  company,  of  which  Sheli- 
koff was  the  head,  the  practical  monopoly  of  the  Ahiska 
fur  trade.  Alexander  Baranoff,  one  of  Shelikoff 's  sub- 
ordinates, was  soon  made  Chief  Director  of  Aflf^iij's  in 
the  Kusso- American  colonies.  He,  like  his  chief,  was 
a  man  of  consummate  executive  ability,  and  utterly 
destitute  of  humane  feelings  or  moral  sense.  In  the 
summer  of  17913  he  prevailed  upon  the  Czarina  to  issue 
another  ukase,  authorizing  the  sending  of  missionaries 
to  America  to  convert  the  natives  to  the  Orthodox  Greek 
faith,  and  also  the  sending  thither  of  Russian  convicts 
to  teach  them  agriculture.  Thirty  convicts  were  thus 
settled  by  Bai-anoff  on  the  Kenai  peninsula,  and  the 
Archimandrite  floasaph,  elder  of  the  Augustin  friars, 
also  went  thither.  Many  other  convicts  and  their  fami- 
lies, and  monkisli  missionaries,  were  in  1794  landed  at 
Kadiak  and  (  a])e  St.  Elias.  As  soon  as  they  were 
landed,  Shelikoff  refused  to  support  them»  and  they 


DISCOVERY  AND  HISTORY.  379 

were  compelled  to  work  for  their  living.  In  conBe- 
quence  the  missionaries  sent  bitter  complaints  to  the 
Czar ;  and  these  were  accompanied  by  still  more  bitter 
complaints  from  the  natives,  who  were  being  subjected 
to  such  brutalities  as  cannot  be  described  in  print. 
These  had  little  effect,  however.  In  1795,  Shelikoff 
died,  and  his  wife  succeeded  him  as  president  of  the 
company.  At  this  time  the  poj^ulation  of  Kadiak  was 
more  than  3,600  adults.  The  next  year  the  first  Greek 
church  was  erected  there,  and  Father  Joasaph  was  made 
Bishop.  In  1799  the  Czar  Paul  chartered  anew  the 
Shelikoff  company,  re-organized  as  the  Russian- Ameri- 
can Company,  for  a  term  of  twenty  years.  He  gave  it 
absolute  control  of  all  the  American  coast-lands  and 
waters  north  of  latitude  bb°.  The  Company  was  re- 
quired to  survey  the  region,  plant  settlements,  promote 
agriculture,  commerce  and  other  industries,  propagate 
the  Greek  faith,  and  extend  Kussian  influence  and  pos- 
sessions as  widely  as  possible.  As  for  the  natives,  they 
were  by  the  same  decree  made  the  slaves  of  the  Com- 
pany. Baranoff  was  made  practically  the  supreme 
head,  the  autocrat  of  the  entire  realm,  on  whose  w^ord 
were  suspended  the  issues  of  life  and  death. 

Under  this  new  regime  the  old  policy  of  cruelty  and 
outrage  tow^ard  the  natives  was  pursued  with  added  in- 
tensity. Generally  the  Russians  worked  their  will  with 
impunity,  though  sometimes  the  natives  rose  against 
them  Avitli  vengeful  might,  and  on  several  occasions  the 
Russians  were  glad  to  flee  to  British  and  American 
ships  for  shelter.  Meanwhile  explorations  went  on. 
The  American  ship  "  Atahualjia  "  in  1802  discovered 
the  mouth  of  the  Stikine  River.      Baranoff  ex23lored 


380  ALONG  ALASKA'S  GREAT  RIVER. 

the  lower  part  of  the  Coj^per  E-iver.  In  1804  Bara. 
uoff  took  Sitka  from  the  natives,  after  a  hard  battle ; 
renamed  it  New  Archangel,  gave  the  island  on  which 
it  stood  his  own  name,  and  made  it  thenceforth  the 
chief  station  in  the  colony.  About  this  time  an 
attempt  was  made  to  plant  trees  on  the  Aleutian  islands. 
The  Imperial  Chamberlain,  Count  Nicolas  Petrovich 
Kesanoff,  founded  a  school  at  Kadiak,  and  effected  some 
valuable  adininistrative  reforms,  especially  in  the  colo- 
nial courts  and  in  the  financial  system.  Then  he  went 
back  to  Kussia  to  get  the  Czar's  consent  to  his  mamage 
with  the  daughter  of  Don  Luis  de  Arguello,  the  Span- 
ish governor  of  San  Francisco.  As  soon  as  he  was 
gone,  Baranoff  undid  all  his  reforms.  Kesanoff  died 
on  his  way  to  Kussia,  His  betrothed  never  believed  he 
was  dead,  and  never  would  marry  another ;  but  waited 
joaticntly  for  his  return  until  she  became  very  old  and 
died. 

John  Jacob  Astor,  having  formed  a  company  for  the 
Pacific  fur  trade,  sent  a  vessel  to  Sitka  in  1809,  and  in 
1811  an  agent  to  St.  Petersburg  to  negotiate  with  the 
Directory  of  the  Bussian-Amerioan  Comj^any.  The 
negotiations  were  successful,  and  in  October,  1811,  were 
approved  by  the  Czar,  Mr.  Astor  Avas  to  furnish  pro- 
visions and  su23j)lies  at  stated  prices,  and  to  take  pay 
therefor  in  furs  from  the  Company.  They  were  to  as- 
sist each  other  against  smugglers,  respect  each  other's 
hunting-grounds,  and  not  to  sell  intoxicating  liquors  to 
the  natives.  In  1817  Baranoff,  having  grown  old  and 
weary  of  his  toil,  resigned  the  Chief  Directorshiji  of 
the  colonies,  and  was  succeeded  by  Captain  Leontius 
Hagenmeister.     He  resigned  within  a  year,  and  Avas 


DISCOS £hk  AND  HISTORY.  381 

succeeded  by  Lieutenant  Janoffsky.  At  this  time  an 
Imper.al  Commissioner,  Vasili  Golofnin,  was  sent  to 
investigate  and  report  on  the  abuses  of  administration. 
As  a  result,  in  July,  1819,  the  Czar  made  sweeping 
changes  in  the  regulations  of  the  colonies,  which  effected 
some  substantial  reforms. 

There  were  now  Russian  settlements  on  five  of  the 
Aleutian  islands,  four  on  the  shores  of  Cook's  Inlet,  two 
on  Chugach  Gulf,  and  one  at  Sitka.  The  last  named 
was  a  large  and  handsome  place,  surrounded  by  gardens 
and  wheat  fields.  In  1821  the  charter  of  the  Company 
was  renewed  for  twenty  years.  The  profits  of  the  en- 
terprise, however,  were  now  declining.  Not  one  of 
Baranoff's  successors  had  a  tithe  of  his  ability,  and  the 
result  of  his  loss  was  seen  in  shrinking  dividends.  Ex- 
plorations, however,  were  pushed  vigorously.  A  two 
years'  expedition  surveyed  the  coasts  of  Norton  Sound, 
Bristol  Bay,  and  Nunivak  Island.  The  Alexander 
Archij^elago  also  was  thoroughly  explored.  The  Bus- 
eian  Government  in  1821  issued  a  jDroclamation  of  sov- 
ereignty over  the  whole  Pacific  Ocean  north  of  the  51st 
parallel,  and  forbidding  vessels  of  other  nations  to 
approach  within  one  hundred  miles  of  the  shores 
thereof,  save  in  cases  of  extreme  distress.  Against  this 
the  United  States  and  England  vigorously  protested, 
and  with  effect.  In  1824  a  convention  was  signed  be- 
tween the  United  States  and  Bussia,  by  which  the  North 
Pacific  was  opened  to  American  ships,  and  latitude  54° 
40'  was  recognized  as  the  southern  boundary  of  the 
Bussian  possessions ;  and  a  similar  treaty  was  made  with 
Zngland  the  next  year. 

Kotzebue  Sound  was  explored  by  the  English  Cap- 


382  ALONG  ALASKA'S  GREAT  RIVER. 

tain  Beecliey  iu  182G.  Captain  Staiiiiikovich  ex2)lored 
much  of  the  northern  coast  of  Alaska  in  1828.  In 
1830  Chernoff  examined  the  harbor  of  Nuchek  and  the 
mouth  of  the  Kaknu  Kiver  ;  and  Kohnakoff  surveyed 
the  bay  and  river  of  Kuskoquim.  In  this  year  the 
Comjiany  took  formal  possession  of  all  the  Kurile  Is- 
lands. The  next  year  Baron  von  Wrangell  became 
Director  of  the  Colonies,  and  an  era  of  progress  began. 
The  colony  was  opened  for  settlement  to  all  Russians. 
Fort  St.  Michael's,  on  Norton  Sound,  was  established. 
Measures  were  taken  to  check  the  destruction  of  seals 
and  other  sea  animals.  An  observatory  was  founded  at 
Sitka.  In  1835  Glasunoff  explored  the  deltas  of  the 
Kuskoquim  and  Yukon  rivers,  ascending  the  latter 
stream  as  far  as  Anvik.  Small-j)ox  now  broke  out  at 
Sitka,  and  for  several  years  ravaged  all  the  settlements, 
nearly  depopulating  some  of  them.  In  1838  Malakoff 
went  up  the  Yukon  River  to  Nulato,  and  Kushevaroff 
thoroughly  explored  the  northeastern  coast  as  far  as 
Point  Barrow.  The  next  year  Mt.  St.  Elias  was  ob- 
served for  the  first  time  to  emit  smoke,  but  no  further 
eru2)tion  occurred.  In  1843  Lieutenant  Zagoskin  as- 
cended the  Yukon  as  far  as  Nowikakat,  Malakoff  ex- 
plored the  Suchitna,  Gregorieff  the  CojJ^^er  River,  and 
Kashevaroff  the  shores  of  BehringSea. 

The  second  charter  of  the  Company  expired  in  1841, 
and  strong  efforts  were  made  to  have  it  renewed  at  once. 
The  Government  hesitated,  l>ut  finally,  in  1844,  re- 
newed it  on  even  more  liberal  terms  than  before.  In 
the  summer  of  1848  the  first  whaling  vessel  j^assed 
through  Behring  Strait.  It  was  the  American  ship 
"  Superior,"  commanded  by  Captain  Roys.      The  ex- 


DISCO  VER  Y  AND  HISTOR Y.  383 

periment  was  highly  successful,  and  in  the  next  season 
no  less  than  one  hundred  and  fifty-four  American 
whalers  followed  the  examj^le,  all  making  great  catches, 
and  the  industry  was  thus  established  in  those  waters. 
English  and  American  explorers  continued  to  visit  to 
northern  coasts  of  Alaska,  and  surveyed  almost  every 
portion  of  it. 

As  the  ending  of  the  third  charter  of  the  Company 
approached,  efforts  were  made  to  secure  still  another 
renewal.  A  complete  report  on  the  operations  of  the 
Company  was  made  at  the  end  of  1861.  According  to 
it,  the  original  capital  Avas  $73,500.  In  1818  it  was 
"  watered,"  and  the  shares  were  made  $100  instead  of 
$112.50  each.  In  1844  the  Company  had  accumulated 
a  surplus  of  $337,500.  At  the  end  of  1861  the  capital 
was  $495,000,  and  the  surplus  $553,000.  The  original 
investment  had  j^aid  from  six  to  ten  per  cent,  net 
annually,  besides  the  enormous  j^eculations  of  the  officers 
and  employes.  Despite  the  earnest  endeavors  of  the 
Company,  however,  the  Czar  finally  refused  to  renew  its 
charter,  and  the  Company  began  to  wind  up  its  business. 
In  1864  there  was  a  great  increase  of  American  interests 
in  the  colony.  The  Western  Union  Telegraph  Company, 
of  New  York,  doubting  the  practicability  of  operating 
a  cable  under  the  Atlantic,  jDlanned  to  construct  a  tele- 
graph line  to  Euroj^e  by  way  of  Alaska  and  Siberia.  In 
this  the  Kussian  Government  agreed  to  co-operate.  A 
surveying  expedition  was  accordingly  sent  to  Alaska,  and 
much  exploring  work  was  done  at  a  cost  of  more  than 
three  million  dollars.  The  incident,  though  without 
practical,  result  in  itself,  drew  so  much  attention  to 
Alaska  and  its  resources  that  an  American  syndicate 


384  ALONG  ALASKA'S  GREAT  RIVER. 

was  formed  to  purcliase  for  itself  the  charter  which  the 
Czar  refused  to  grant  to  the  ohl  Kussiau  Company.  This 
came  to  the  ear  of  Mr.  Seward,  the  American  Secretary/ 
of  State,  and  he  soon  concluded  that  it  would  be  a  o;ood 
bargain  for  the  United  States  to  buy  the  whole  country 
outright  from  Russia.  This  was  done  in  18G7.  The 
United  States  paid  E-ussia  $7,200,000  for  tli^  whole 
Territory  of  Alaska.  Nearly  all  of  this  went,  at  St. 
Petersburg,  to  satisfy  old  debts  and  obligations  incurred 
by  Alaskan  enterprises.  The  treaty  of  sale  was  agreed 
upon  on  March  oOtli;  it  was  ratified  by  the  United 
States  Senate  on  May  28th ;  j^roclaimed  by  the  Presi- 
dent on  June  20tli ;  General  Jefferson  C.  Davis  was 
aj^pointed  to  take  Command  of  Alaska  on  September 
6th;  and  on  October  IStli  the  United  States  took  formal 
Hnd  actual  possession  of  the  country. 

This  new  Territory  was  looked  upon  as  an  Indian 
country  and  General  Davis  was  really  a  military  com- 
mander. His  headquarters  were  at  Sitka,  where  he  had 
a  garrison  of  about  250  men.  A  number  of  enterpris- 
ing business  men  accom2:)anied  General  Davis  to  Sitka, 
and  immediately  began  erecting  storehouses  and  offices, 
and  purchasing  the  j^i'operty  of  the  old  Kussian  Com- 
pany. In  less  than  a  week  several  new  stores  were 
erected  and  two  drinking  saloons,  two  bowling  alleys 
and  a  restaurant  w^ere  in  operation.  All  sorts  and  con- 
ditions of  men  began  flocking  in,  including  pioneers 
and  squatters,  and  aspirants  for  political  honors  in  the 
Territory.  There  was  talk  of  framing  a  city  charters 
and  of  creating  numerous  lucrative  offices.  The  usual 
amount  of  crime  and  disorder  of  a  frontier  settlement 
occurred,  and  soon  all  respectable  inhabitants  were  com- 


DISCO  VER  Y  A  ND  HIST  OB  Y.  385 

pelled  tc  lock  their  doors  at  nightfall  and  not  venture 
out  again  until  daylight.  Difficulties  with  the  Indians 
also  soon  began,  and  for  many  years  the  Territory  was 
in  a  state  of  disorder  and  confusion,  lacking  any 
organized  government. 

In  February,  1868,  the  Russians  began  to  return 
home  and  to  abandon  the  Territory  to  its  new  owners. 
In  this  year  many  serious  troubles  with  the  Indians 
occurred  on  the  Yukon  River,  and  on  the  first  of 
January,  1869,  there  was  some  disturbance  at  Sitka 
itself.  In  April,  1869,  the  publication  of  a  news2:»a23er 
was  begun  at  Sitka  by  a  man  who  also  followed  the 
avocations  of  lawyer  and  tailor.  This  paper  passed  out 
of  existence  after  about  a  year  and  was  not  revived.  In 
1870  the  withdrawal  of  the  military  garrisons  occurred, 
excepting  those  at  Sitka  and  Wrangell.  In  1874  an 
attemj)t  was  made  to  colonize  Alaska  with  Icelanders, 
who  were  at  that  time  leaving  their  own  country  in  large 
numbers.  Several  of  them  visited  Alaska  and  were 
pleased  with  the  appearance  of  the  country.  An  offer 
was  made  to  transport  thither  five  hundred  Icelanders 
free  of  charge,  but  it  was  not  accej)ted,  and  the  scheme 
of  colonization  was  finally  abandoned.  In  1878  a 
serious  outbreak  of  Indians  occurred  at  Sitka,  and  the 
inhabitants  of  that  town  were  compelled  to  appeal  for 
protection  to  the  commander  of  an  English  war-ship. 
In  1884  a  regular  territorial  government  was  estab- 
lished and  a  civil  governor  appointed,  the  military 
garrisons  having  been  withdrawn. 


THH  PEOPLE  AND  THEIR  INDUSTRIES. 

'jflie  United  States  census  of  1890  definitely  en'j« 
merated  21,929  inlia])itants  of  Alaska,  and  estimated  the 
existence  of  al)out  8,400  more.  Of  those  enumerated 
there  were  3,922  white  males  and  497  white  females  i 
82  black  males;  770  "mixed"  males, and  798  "mixed" 
females;  and  2,125  male  Chinese;  while  the  native 
population  included  -7,158  males  and  0,577  females. 
According  to  the  same  census  there  were  in  Alaska  11 
organizations  of  the  Orthodox  Greek  Church ;  with  22 
edifices  with  a  seating  capacity  of  2,900  and  a  value  of 
1180,000.  The  communicants  numbered  13,004.  The 
Ivoman  Catholic  Church  had  6  organizations,  with  6 
buildings,  seating  540  persons,  and  valued  at  $9,700. 
There  were  559  communicants.  No  less  than  27  fire 
insurance  companies  were  doing  business  in  the  Territory, 
and  in  1889  the  risks  written  and  renewed  by  tliem 
aggregated  $1,710,184. 

The  people  of  Alaska  have  been  spoken  of  as  A  meri- 
cans,  Russians,  Hydalis,  Tsimpseans,  Thlinkets,  Aleuts, 
Innuits  or  Eskimos  and  Tinneh,  or  Athabascan  Indians. 
Eiglit  distinct  languages  and  several  dialects  are  spoken. 
The  Tsimpseans  embi-ace  only  tlie  settlement  at  IMetlak- 
ahtki,  about  one  thousand  people  who  came  over  from  Brit' 
isL  Columbia.  Tlie  Ilydahs  have  some  five  or  six  villages 
on  the  south  end  of  Prince  of  Wales  Island  with  about 
nine  hundred  jieople.  Tlie  Tldinkets  reside  in  from 
forty  to  fifty  villages  in  the  Alexander  Archipelago  and 


THE  PEOPLE  AND  THEIR  INDUSTRIES.        887 

along  tlie  coast  from  Caj^e  Fox  to  Copper  River.  All 
these  have  hecoine  partly  civilized  by  contact  with  the 
whites  and  through  the  influence  of  schools  and  mis- 
sions, and  there  is  a  large  numl^er  of  those  who  can 
fspeak  English  and  have  become  excellent  citizens.  The 
Aleuts  are  also  partly  civilized,  but  with  a  civilization 
conforming  more  nearly  to  that  of  the  Russians  than 
our  own.  These  reside  uj^on  the  islands  of  the  Aleu- 
tian chain,  the  Shunagin  and  Kodiak  groups,  the  Ali- 
aska  Peninsula  and  the  islands  of  St.  Paul  and  St. 
George  in  Behring  Sea. 

There  are  a  few  Aleut  half-breeds  In  Sitka.  Many 
of  these  people  talk  the  Russian  language.  The  Innu- 
its  and  Tinnehs  cannot  be  said  to  be  civilized,  though 
their  barbarism  has  been  modified  by  contact  with  white 
people.  The  Innuits  reside  along  the  coast  from  Nushe- 
gak,  in  Behring  Sea,  to  the  eastern  limit  of  our  domin- 
ion in  the  Arctic  region.  Lieutenant  Ray  speaks  ot 
them  as  Mving  in  a  state  of  anarchy,  making  no  com- 
binations, offensive  or  defensive,  having  no  punishment 
for  crimes  and  no  government.  Given  to  petty  pilfering, 
they  make  no  attempt  to  reclaim  stolen  property.  They 
are  social  in  their  habits  and  kind  to  each  other.  These 
people  are  obliged  to  devote  all  their  energies  to  pro- 
curing the  necessary  food  and  clothing  to  maintain  life. 
Their  Intelligence  is  of  a  low  order  and  the  race  is  ap- 
parently diminishing.  Ph3'^sically  they  are  strong  and 
possess  great  powers  of  endurance. 

The  Tinnehs  occupy  the  interior,  the  Yukon  valley, 
except  the  portions  near  its  mouth,  and  come  down  to 
the  seashore  only  at  Cook's  Inlet.  They  are  called 
"Stick  "  Indians  by  the  Thlinkets.    These  people  have 


P.SS  A LOXG  ALASKA'S  GREAT  RIVER, 

many  traits  of  the  North  American  Indirus  elsewhere., 
and  may  properly  be  designated  as  Indians.  The  othei 
natives  of  Alaska  are  not  true  Indians  and  have  not 
generally  been  treated  as  such  by  tlie  government. 
They  have  no  real  tribal  relations,  though  formerly  the 
heads  of  families  were  recognized  as  chiefs  and  called 
Buch. 

At  the  present  time,  among  the  Hydalis,  Tsimpseans, 
riilinkets  and  Aleuts,  the  so-called  chiefs  have  very 
little,  if  any,  power  or  influence,  as  such.  Among  the 
Eskimos  it  may  be  doubted  if  the  office  ever  amounted 
to  anything. 

The  progress  of  the  natives  of  Southeastern  Alaska 
toward  civilization  is  steady  and  certain,  though  it 
must  not  be  supposed  that  these  peo2">le  yet  take  high 
rank  in  learning,  intelligence  or  morality.  The  edu- 
cating and  elevating  influences  of  the  schools  and  mis- 
sions, though  doing  much,  perhaps  more  tlian  we  should 
expect  under  the  circumstances,  must  be  continued  a 
long  time  in  order  to  effect  anything  like  satisfactory 
conditions. 

In  some  respects  the  phj'^sical  condition  of  the  differ- 
ent native  tribes  is  alike  and  in  otheis  not.  All  are 
strongly  built,  rather  short,  and  by  their  habits  of  liv- 
ing inured  to  hardship  and  endurance.  The  men  have 
very  light  or  no  beards,  and  frequently  triu;  the  scat- 
tering hairs  on  their  chins  closely  or  pluck  them  out. 
Tlio  average  height  is  less  than  -that  of  Euiopeans. 
Tiiey  have  an  Asiatic  cast  of  features  and  the  coast 
people  are  generally  thought  to  have  originated  from 
Japanese  stock.  Tlie  Eskimos  have  a  language  very 
similar  to  the  Eskimos  of  Labrador  and  almost  identical 


THE  PEOPLE  AND  THEIR  INDUSTRIEa,       889 

with  a  small  population  upon  the  Asiatic  side  of  Behr- 
ing  Strait.  Physically  they  differ  from  the  Eskimos  of 
Greenland  and  Labrador,  being  more  robust  and  healthy- 
All  of  the  natives  of  Alaska  have  small  and  delicately- 
formed  hands  and  feet  and  rather  a  massive  head, 
straight  black  hair,  dark  eyes,  high  cheek  bones  and 
nut-brown  complexion.  All  are  to  a  large  extent  fish 
eaters,  though  the  Tinnehs,  living  in  the  interior,  or 
Ingalik  tribes  of  the  Yukon,  are  comi^elled  to  subsist 
to  a  greater  extent  upon  game  and  land  products. 

Their  dwellings,  not  so  unlike  originally,  have  now 
become  quite  different  in  style  and  manner  of  construc- 
tion. Those  residing  in  Southeastern  Alaska  have 
frame  or  block  houses  wholly  above  ground,  with  sleep- 
ing apartments  partitioned  off  from  the  main  or  living- 
room  where  the  central  fireplace  is  located,  like  the 
state-rooms  of  a  river  steamboat,  and  many  of  the 
Thlinkets  have  substituted  the  modern  cooking-stove 
and  pipe  for  the  fireplace  and  open  chimney-hole  in 
the  roof. 

These  people  are  all  self-supporting;  the  Hydahs, 
Tsimpseans,  Thlinkets  and  Aleuts  living  comfortably 
with  plenty  of  food  and  blankets.  The  Eskimos,  es- 
pecially those  of  the  Arctic  region,  have  a  hard  time  of 
it  to  keep  from  starvation  and  death  by  freezing.  The 
Tinnehs,  or  Ingaliks,  have  less  of  the  conveniences,  not 
to  say  luxuries  of  life,  than  any  of  the  coast  tribes.  The 
last-named  two  tribes  have  small,  poorly  built,  partly 
underground  houses>  ..-nd  their  winter  dwellings  are  en- 
tirely covered  with  earth. 

Mention  has  already  been  made  of  the  town  of  Sitka, 
^e  capital  of  the  Territory,    It  is  beautifully  situated, 


390  ALONG  ALASKA'S  GREAT  RIVEIL 

sheltered  by  a  rauge  of  suow-covered  iiiouutains  on  the 
one  aide  and  on  the  otlier  protected  from  the  broad  ex- 
panse of  the  Pacihc  Oceau  and  its  storms  by  a  numer- 
ous group  of  thickly-wooded  islands.  The  waters  of 
the  harbor  are  singularly  clear,  so  that  in  looking  over 
the  side  of  a  vessel  one  can  see  the  bottom  at  a  de2)th 
of  many  fathoms.  A  warm  etpiatorial  current  bather 
this  sliore  and  bejxrs  into  these  Arctic  regions  many 
si^ongcs,  coral  branches  and  other  growths  of  war)uer 
latitudes.  The  town  itself  lies  clustered  near  the  shore 
and  presents  a  j^leasing  jjicture  to  the  visitor  as  he  ap- 
proaches it  from  the  sea.  Its  most  conspicuous  feature 
is  the  old  weather-beaten  and  moss-irrown  castle  which 
crowns  a  rocky  hill.  This  structure  is  140  feet  long 
and  70  feet  wide,  and  is  built  of  huge  cedar  logs.  It 
was  for  many  years  the  official  residence  of  the  Rus- 
sian governors  and  was  at  times  the  scene  of  sj^lendid 
social  gatherings.  In  its  upper  story  were  arranged  a 
ball-room  and  a  theatre,  and  the  building  throughout 
was  as  richly  furnished  as  a  jjalace  in  St.  Petersburg  or 
Moscow.  Some  of  these  rich  furnishings  still  remain, 
thougli  as  a  whole  the  building  is  in  a  most  dila})idated 
condition.  Another  prominent  building  is  the  old 
Greek  Church  with  its  emerald  green  dome,  Byzantine 
spire,  fine  chime  of  bells  and  richly  decorated  interior. 
It  is  liberally  maintained,  as  indeed  are  all  the  otlier 
Greek  Churches  in  the  Territory,  by  the  Russian  Govern- 
ment. Most  of  the  houses  in  Sitka  are  built  of  heavy 
logs,  some  of  them  being  also  rhipboarded  outside 
During  the  winter  about  1,000  Indians  live  there  and 
tlie  wliite  i)oj)ulation  is  composed  of  the  government 
officials  and  agents,  a  few  store-keepers  and  traders,  aod 


THE  PEOPLE  AND  THEIR  INDUSTRIES.       391 

perhaps  four  or  five  hundred  miners  and  prospectors 
from  the  inland  regions.  In  mid-winter  there  are  ODly 
about  six  hours  of  daylight  in  each  day,  and  in  mid- 
summer there  is  for  a  time  23ractically  no  night  at  alL 
Rain  is  the  principal  feature  of  the  climate,  and  this 
abundance  of  moisture  causes  all  vegetation  to  grow 
luxuriantly.  There  is  an  abundance  of  vegetables  and 
some  fruit,  and  domestic  cattle  are  kept  successfully. 
Nowhere  outside  of  the  troj^ics  is  a  more  luxurious 
natural  vegetation  to  be  found  than  in  these  islands  of 
southern  Alaska.  Sitka  is  a  neat  and  clean  city,  and  as 
a  rule  is  now  quiet  and  orderly.  It  contains  a  large 
industrial  school,  attended  by  200  native  boys 
and  girls,  the  course  of  study  including  nearly  all  use- 
ful industries.  Twenty  miles  south  of  Sitka,  on  the 
same  island,  hot  springs  are  to  be  found,  the  water  of 
which  is  rich  in  sulphur  and  iron.  For  many  genera- 
tions these  have  been  a  sanitary  resort  of  the  natives, 
and  it  is  not  unlikely  that  in  the  near  future  they  will 
be  greatly  visited  by  tourists  from  the  United  States 
and  elsew^here.  The  temperature  of  the  water  is  about 
155°  Fahrenheit,  and  the  springs  are  surrounded  by 
troj^ical  vegetation. 

After  Sitka,  the  most  important  settlement  in  the 
Territory,  is  Fort  Wraugell.  It  is  beautifully  situated 
at  the  mouth  of  the  Stickhin  River,  w^here  there  is  an 
excellent  and  capacious  harbor,  surrounded  by  imi)oa- 
!i?.R'  mountains.  The  town  consists  of  rather  more  than 
100  houses,  and  includes  about  500  permanent 
inhabitants.  There  are  two  or  three  large  stores  for 
the  sale  cf  goods  to  the  natives  and  for  the  purchase  ol 
fiirs  and  other  natural  products,  as  w  ell  as  the  quaint 


392  ALONG  ALASKA'S  GREAT  EIVEIL 

manLifactures  of  the  Indians.  There  is  also  a  flourish- 
ing inckistrial  school  for  the  Indian  girls.  A  leading 
native  industry  here  is  the  manufacture  of  jewelry  from 
silver  and  ivory.  In  this  the  natives  are  very  expert, 
producing  most  elaborate  j^atterns  and  co2)ying  any  de- 
signs given  to  them  Avith  the  most  patient  and  unfailing 
fidelity. 

When  the  United  States  took  possession  of  Alaska  a 
great  many  active  and  ambitious  men  on  the  Pacific 
coast  were  imbued  with  the  idea  that  much  that  was 
really  valuable  in  Alaska  in  the  line  of  furs  and  the 
precious  metals  would  be  developed  to  their  great  gain  and 
benefit  if  they  gave  the  subject  the  attention  which  it  de- 
served. Accordingly,  many  expeditions  were  fitted  out  at 
San  Francisco,  Puget  Sound,  and  other  points  on  the  Pa- 
cific coast,  and  directed  to  an  examination  of  these rej^uted 
sources  of  wealth  in  that  distant  country.  Many  years 
have  now  rolled  by,  and  in  that  time  we  have  been  en- 
abled to  judge  pretty  accurately  of  the  relative  value  of 
this  new  territory  in  com23arison  with  that  of  our  nearer 
possessions,  and  it  is  now  known  that  the  fur-trade  of 
Alaska  is  all  and  even  more  than  it  was  reputed  to  be 
by  the  Russians. 

In  this  connection  the  most  notable  instance,  perhaps, 
of  the  great  value  of  these  interests  may  be  cited  in  the 
case  of  the  seal  islands.  It  will  be  remembered  that  at 
the  time  of  the  transfer,  when  the  most  eloquent  advo- 
cates of  the  purchase  were  exhausting  the  fertility  of 
their  brains  in  drumming  up  and  securing  every  possi- 
ble argument  in  favor  of  the  purchase,  tliough  the  fur 
trade  of  the  mainland,  the  sea-otter  fisheries,  and  the 
possible  extent  of  trade  in  walrus  oil  and  ivory  were 


TBE  PEOPLE  AND  THEIR  INDUSTRIES.       393 

dwelt  upon  with  great  emphasis,  these  fur-seal  islands 
did  not  receive  even  a  passing  notice  as  a  source  of  rev- 
enue or  value  to  the  public.  Yet  it  has  transj^ired, 
since  the  government  has  been  wise  enough  to  follow 
out  the  general  policy  which  the  Russians  established 
of  protecting  the  seal  life  on  the  Pribylof  Islands,  that 
these  interests  in  our  hands  are  so  managed  and  directed 
that  they  pay  into  the  treasury  of  the  United  States  a 
sum  sufficient  to  meet  all  the  ex23enses  of  the  govern- 
ment in  behalf  of  Alaska,  beside  leaving  a  large  excess 
every  year. 

Of  other  resources,  such  as  the  adaptation  of  the 
country  for  settlement  by  any  considerable  number  of 
our  people  as  agriculturists  or  husbandmen,  and  its 
actual  value  as  a  means  of  supplying  gold  and  silver, 
coal  or  timber,  it  must  be  said  that  as  yet  no  very  re- 
markable gold  or  silver  mines  have  been  discovered,  nor 
have  there  been  any  veins  of  coal  worked  that  would 
in  themselves  sustain  any  considerable  number  of  our 
peoj^le  or  give  rise  to  any  volume  of  trade. 

The  timber  of  Alaska  in  itself  extends  over  a 
much  larger  area  of  that  country  than  a  great  many 
surmise.  It  clothes  the  steep  hills  and  mountain  sides, 
and  chokes  up  the  valleys  of  the  Alexander  Archipelago 
and  the  contiguous  mainland ;  it  stretches  less  densa 
but  still  abundant,  along  that  inhospitable  reach  of  ter- 
ritory which  extends  from  the  head  of  Cross  Sound  to 
the  Kenai  peninsula,  where,  reaching  down  to  the  west- 
ward and  southwestward  as  far  as  the  eastern  half  of 
Kadiak  Island,  and  thence  across  Shelikof  Strait,  it  is 
found  on  the  mainland  and  on  the  peninsula  bordering 
on  the  same  latitude ;  but  it  is  confined  to  the  interior 


894  ALONG  ALASKA'S  GREAT  RIVER. 

opposite  Kadiak,  not  coming  down  to  the  coast  as  fai 
eastward  as  Cape  Douglas.  Here,  however,  it  impinges 
on  tlie  coast  or  Cook's  Inlet,  reaching  down  to  the 
shores  and  extending  around  to  the  Keiiai  ])eninsula. 
From  the  interior  of  the  j)eninsula,  above  referred  to, 
the  timber-line  over  the  whole  of  the  interior  of  the 
great  area  of  Alaska  Avill  be  found  to  follow  the  coast- 
line, at  varying  distances  of  from  100  to  150  miles  from 
the  seabord,  until  that  section  of  Alaska  north  of  the 
Yukon  mouth  is  reached,  where  a  portion  of  the  coast 
of  Norton  Sound  is  directly  bordered  by  timber  as  far 
north  as  Cape  Denbigh.  From  this  point  to  the  east- 
ward and  northeastward  a  line  may  be  drawn  just  above 
the  Yukon  and  its  immediate  tributaries  as  the  northern 
limit  of  timber  of  any  considerable  extent.  There  are 
a  great  number  of  small  water-courses  rising  here  that 
find  their  way  into  tlifc  Arctic,  bordered  by  hills  and 
lowland  ridges  on  which  some  wind-stunted  timber  is 
found,  even  to  the  shores  of  the  Arctic  Sea. 

In  thus  broadly  sketching  the  distribution  of  timber 
over  Alaska  it  will  be  observed  that  the  area  thus 
clothed  is  very  great ;  yet  when  w^e  come  to  consider 
the  quality  of  the  timber  itself,  and  its  economic  value 
in  our  markets,  w^e  are  obliged  to  adopt  the  standard 
of  the  lumber-mills  in  Oregon  and  Washington. 
Viewed  in  this  light,  Ave  find  that  the  best  timber  of 
Alaska  is  the  yellow  cedar,  which  in  itself  is  of  great 
intrinsic  value ;  but  this  cedar  is  not  the  dominant  tim- 
ber by  any  means;  it  is  the  excej^tion  to  the  rule.  The 
great  bulk  of  Alaskan  timber  is  that  known  as  Sitkan 
spruce,  or  balsam  fir.  The  lumber  sawed  from  this 
stock  is  naturally  not  of  the  first  quality.     These  trees 


THE  PEOPLE  AND  THEIR  INDUSTRIES.       395 

^ow  to  their  greatest  size  in  tlie  Sitka  or  Alexander 
A.rcliipelago.  An  interval  occurs  from  Cross  Sound 
until  we  pass  over  the  fair-weather  ground  at  the  foot 
of  Mount  St.  Elias,  upon  the  region  of  Prince  AVilliam 
Sound  and  Cook's  Inlet,  where  this  timber  again  occurs, 
and  attains  very  respectable  proportions  in  many  sec- 
lions  of  the  district,  notably  at  Wood  Island  and  j^or- 
tions  of  Afognak,  and  at  the  head  of  the  Kenai  ]3enin- 
sula  and  the  two  gulfs  that  environ  it.  The  abundance 
of  this  timber  and  the  extensive  area  clothed  by  it  are 
readily  appreciated  by  looking  at  the  map,  and  are  ren- 
dered still  more  impressive  when  we  call  attention  to 
the  fact  that  the  timber  extends  in  good  size  as  far  north 
as  the  Yukon  Valley,  clothing  all  the  hills  within  that 
extensive  region  and  to  the  north  of  Cook's  Inlet  and 
Kenai  2:)eninsula,  so  that  the  amount  of  timber  found 
therein  is  great  in  the  aggregate.  The  size  of  this  spruce 
timber  at  its  base  will  be  typified  in  trees  on  Prince  of 
Wales  Island  50  feet  and  over  in  height,  with  a  diam- 
eter of  at  least  three  feet.  They  have  not  grown  as  fast 
as  they  would  have  grown  in  a  more  congenial  latitude 
to  the  south,  such  as  Puget  Sound  or  Oregon ;  h»;nce 
when  they  are  run  through  the  saw-mill  the  frequent 
and  close  proximity  of  knots  mar  the  quality  and  de- 
press the  sale  of  the  lumber.  Spruce  boards  are  not 
adapted  to  nice  finishing  work  in  building  or  in  cabinet- 
ware,  or,  indeed,  in  anything  that  requires  a  finish  and 
upon  which  paint  and  varnish  may  be  permanently 
aj^plied,  for  under  the  influence  of  slight  degrees  of  heat 
it  sweats,  exuding  minute  globules  of  gum  or  rosin, 
trhich  are  sticky  and  difficult  to  remove. 
The  other  timber  trees  in  southeastern  Alaska,  Iva- 


396  ALONG  ALASKA'S  GREAT  RIVER. 

Jiak  and  Cook's  Inlet  may  be  called  exceptional.  Bui 
one  very  valuable  species  of  yellow  cedar  (C  niUkancii- 
sls)  is  found  scattered  here  and  there  within  the  Alex- 
ander Archipelago  and  on  the  thirty-mile  strip.  Here 
this  really  valuable  tree  is  found  at  Avide  intervals  in 
small  clumps,  j^i'incipally  along  shoal  water-courses  and 
fiords,  attaining  a  much  greater  size  than  the  spruce,  as 
frequently  trees  are  found  100  feet  high,  with  a  diameter 
of  five  and  six  feet.  The  lumber  made  from  these  is 
exceedingly  valuable,  of  the  very  finest  texture,  odor 
and  endurance,  and  is  highly  prized  by  the  cabinet- 
maker and  the  ship-builder. 

Thus  it  will  be  seen  that  the  forests  of  Alaska  are 
altogether  coniferous,  as  the  small  bodie.?  of  the  birch 
and  the  alder  and  willow  thickets  on  the  lower  Yukon 
and  Kuskokvim  Kivers  can  scarcely  be  considered  to 
come  under  this  head.  Aside  from  the  yellow  cedar, 
which  is  rare,  the  timber  wealth  of  Alaska  consists  of 
the  Sitka  spruce,  which  is  not  only  abundant  and  large 
(trees  of  from  three  to  four  feet  in  diameter  being  quite 
common  in  southeastern  Alaska  and  Prince  William 
Sound),  but  also  generally  accessible. 

To  give  even  an  approximate  estimate  of  the  area  of 
timbered  lands  in  Alaska  is  at  present  impossible,  in 
view  of  our  incomplete  knowledge  of  the  extent  of 
mountain  ranges,  which,  though  falling  within  the  tim- 
ber limits,  must  be  deducted  from  the  superficial  area 
of  forest  covering. 

A  few  small  saw-mills,  of  exceedingly  limited  capac- 
ity, have  been  erected  at  various  points  in  southeastern 
Alaska,  to  supply  the  local  demand  of  trading-posts 
and  mining-camps,  but  finished  building  lumber  is  still 


THE  PEOPLE  AND  THEIR  INDUSTRIES.        397 

liargely  imj^orted  even  into  this  heavily-timbered  region. 
[n  all  western  Alaska  but  one  small  saw-mill  is  known 
to  exist,  which  is  on  Wood  Island,  St.  Paul  Harbor, 
Kadiak.  This  mill  was  first  set  up  to  supply  saw-dust 
for  packing  ice,  but  since  the  collapse  of  that  industry 
its  operations  have  been  spasmodic  and  not  worth  men- 
tioning. Lumber  from  Puget  Sound  and  British  Col- 
umbian mills  is  shipped  to  nearly  all  ports  in  western 
Alaska  for  the  use  of  whites  and  half-breeds,  while  the 
natives  in  their  more  remote  settlements  obtain  planks 
and  boards  by  the  very  laborious  j)rocess  of  splitting  logs 
with  iron  or  ivory  wedges.  On  the  treeless  isles  of  the 
Shumagin  and  Aleutian  groups,  as  well  as  in  the  south- 
ern settlements  of  the  Aliaska  peninsula,  even  fire-wood 
is  imported  from  more  favored  sections  of  the  territory 
and  commands  high  j)rices. 

The  fisheries  cover  a  very  large  area,  but  their  value 
and  im23ortance,  in  consequence  of  the  limited  market 
afforded  for  exportation  on  the  Pacific  coast,  has  not 
been  fully  developed.  The  supply  certainly  is  more 
than  equal  to  any  demand. 

The  soil  of  Alaska  is  not  sterile,  being  at  many  points 
of  the  requisite  depth  and  fertility  for  the  production  of 
the  very  best  crops  of  cereals  and  tubers.  The  difficulty 
with  agricultural  progress  in  Alaska  is,  therefore,  not 
found  in  that  respect.     It  is  due  to  the  peculiar  climate. 

Glancing  at  the  map  the  observer  will  notice  that 
hydrographers  have  defined  the  passage  of  a  warm 
current,  sufficient  in  volume  and  high  enough  in  tem- 
perature to  traverse  the  vast  expanse  of  the  North 
Pacific  from  the  coast  of  Japan  \\\)  and  across  a  little  to 
the  southward  of  the  Aleutian  Islands,  and  then  detleci> 


3US  ALONG  ALASKA'S  GREAT  RIVEIC. 

iii^  down  to  the  moutli  of  tlie  Columbia  Eiver,  where  it 
Luriirf,  one  branch  going  north  uj)  along  the  coasc  o* 
i^ritish  Columbia  by  Sitka,  and  thence  again  to  the 
westward  until  it  turns  and  bends  back  upon  itself, 
'iiie  other  grand  arm,  continuing  from  the  first  point 
of  bifurcation,  in  its  quiet,  steady  flow  to  the  Arctic, 
passes  up  to  the  northeastward  tlirough  the  strait  of 
Behring.  This  warm  current,  stored  with  tropical  heat, 
gives  rise  naturally,  as  it  comes  in  contact  -with  the 
colder  air  and  water  of  the  north,  to  excessive  humidity, 
which  takes  form  in  the  j)revalent  fog,  slset  and  rain  of 
Alaska,  as  noted  and  recorded  with  so  much  sur2:>rise 
by  travelers  and  temporary  residents  from  other 
climes.  Therefore,  at  Sitka,  and,  indeed,  on  the  entire 
seaboard  of  South  Alaska  and  the  Aleutian  Islands,  in- 
stead of  finding  a  degree  of  excessive  cold  carried  over 
to  the  mainland  across  the  Coast  range,  which  the  lati- 
tude would  seem  to  indicate,  w^e  find  a  climate  much 
more  mild  than  rigorous ;  but  the  prevalence  of  fog 
clouds  or  banks,  either  hanging  surcharged  with  mois- 
ture or  dissolving  into  weeks  of  consecutive  rain,  so  re- 
tard and  arrest  a  proper  ripening  of  fruits  and  vegeta- 
bles in  that  climate  that  the  reasonable  certainty  of 
success  in  a  garden  from  year  to  year  is  destroyed. 

When  we  look  at  Alaska  we  are  impressed  by  one 
salient  feature,  and  that  is  the  remarkable  distances 
which  exist  between  the  isolated  settlements.  It  is  not 
at  first  apparent,  but  it  grows  on  the  traveler  until  he 
is  profoundly  moved  at  the  expenditure  of  physical 
labor,  patience  and  skill  required  to  traverse  any  con- 
Bidd'able  district  of  that  country. 

The  Sitkan  district  is  essentially  one  of  I'ugged  in- 


THE  PEOPLE  AND  THEIN  INDUSTRIES.       3<J'J 

equality,  being  mountainous  on  the  mainland  to  the 
exclusion  of  all  other  features,  and  equally  so  on  the 
islands.  It  is  traversed  here,  there  and  everywhere  by 
broad  arms  of  the  sea  and  their  hundreds  and  thousands 
of  lesser  channels. 

Land  travel  is  simply  impracticable.  Nobody  goes 
on  a  road  ;  savages  and  whites  all  travel  by  the  water. 
Perhaps  the  greatest  humidity  and  the  heaviest  rainfall 
'n  the  Alaskan  country  occur  here.  The  equable  and 
aot  rigorous  climate  jiermits  of  free  navigation  at  all 
neasons  of  the  year,  and  it  is  seldom,  indeed,  that  the 
little  lakes  and  shallow  lagoons  near  the  sea-l'"  /el  are 
frozen  so  firmly  as  to  allow  of  a  winter's  skating. 

The  Aleutian  and  Kadiak  districts  are  quite  as  peculiar 
in  themselves  and  as  much  individualized  by  their  geo- 
lo^^ical  age  and  formation  as  is  the  Sitkan  division.  They 
hold  within  their  boundaries  a  range  of  great  fire- 
mountains — grumbling,  smoking,  quaking  hills  ;  some 
of  these  volcanic  jDcaks  being  so  lofty  and  so  impressive 
as  vo  fix  in  the  explorer's  eye  an  image  superb  and 
grai  id,  and  so  magnificent  as  to  render  adequate  descrip- 
tion impossible.  Like  the  Sitkan  district,  the  Aleutian 
and  Kadiak  regions  are  exceedingly  mountainous,  there 
beiUj  ^  very  little  low  or  level  land  compared  with  the 
sum  total  of  their  superficial  area ;  but  in  that  portion 
extei  ding  for  1,100  miles  to  the  w^estward  of  Kadiak, 
near}  j  over  to  Asia,  bare  o^  timber,  a  skeleton,  as  it 
were,  is  presented  to  the  eye  and  strikes  one  with  a 
sense  of  an  individuality  here  in  decided  contr^ist  with 
that  cf  the  Sitkan  country.  The  hills  not  clothed  with 
timber  are  covered  to  their  summits  in  most  cases  with 
a  thick  crop  of  circumpolar  si^hagnum,  interspersed  with 


400  ALONG  ALASKA'S  GREAT  RIVER. 

grasses,  and  a  large  flora,  briglit  and  beautiful  in  th^i 
summer  season.  To  thoroughly  appreciate  how  much 
moisture  in  the  form  of  fog  and  rain  settles  ujion  the 
land,  one  cannot  do  better  than  to  leave  the  ship  in  the 
harbor,  or  the  post  where  he  is  stationed,  and  take  up 
a  line  of  march  through  one  of  the  narrow  valleys  near 
by  to  the  summit  of  one  of  the  lofty  peaks.  He  will 
step  upon  what  appeared  from  the  window  of  the  vessel 
a  firm  greensward,  and  sink  to  his  waist  in  a  shaking, 
tremulous  bog,  or  slide  over  moss-grown  shingle,  painted 
and  concealed  by  the  luxuriant  growth  of  cryptogamio 
life,  where  he  expected  to  find  a  free  and  ready  path. 

"  Passing  from  this  district,"  says  ]Mr.  Petroff,  "  a 
very  remarkable  region  is  entered,  which  I  have  called 
the  Yukon  and  the  Kuskokvim  divisions.  I  have 
during  two  summers  traversed  the  major  portion  of  it 
from  the  north  to  the  south,  confirming  many  new  and 
Bome  mooted  points.  This  region  covers  the  deltoid 
mouth  of  a  vast  river,  the  Yukon,  and  the  sea-like 
estuary — the  Amazonian  mouth  of  another — the  Kus- 
kokvim, with  the  extraordinary  shoals  and  bars  of 
Bristol  Bay,  where  the  tides  run  Avith  sur2:)rising  volume. 
The  country  itself  differs  strikingly  from  the  two  divi- 
sions just  sketched,  consisting,  as  it  does,  of  irregular 
mountain  sj^urs  planted  on  vast  exjianses  of  low,  flat 
tundra.  It  is  a  country  which,  to  our  race,  perhaj>Sy  is 
far  more  inhospitable  than  either  the  Sitkan  or  Kadiak 
divisions ;  yet,  strange  to  say,  I  have  found  therein  the 
greatest  concentrated  population  of  the  whole  Territory. 
Of  course,  it  is  not  by  agricultural,  or  by  mining,  or  any 
other  industry,  save  the  aborioinal  art  of  fishing  and  the 
traffic  of  the  fur  trade  that  the  people  live ;  and,  again. 


THE  PEOPLE  AND  THEIR  INDUSTBIES.       401 

when  the  fur-bearing  animals  are  taken  into  account, 
the  quality  and  volume  of  that  trade  are  far  inferior  to 
those  of  either  of  the  previously  named  divisions,  and 
we  find  the  natives  existing  in  the  greatest  number 
where,  according  to  our  measure  of  compensation,  they 
have  the  least  to  gain. 

"  This  country,  outside  of  these  detached  mountain 
regions  and  spurs,  is  a  great  expanse  of  bog,  lakes,  large 
and  small,  with  thousands  of  channels  between  them, 
and  sluggish  currents  filled  with  grasses  and  other 
aqueous  vegetation,  indicated  to  the  eye  by  the  presence 
of  water-lilies. 

"The  traveler,  tortured  by  mosquitoes  in  summer, 
blinded,  confused  and  disturbed  by  whirling  *  purgas,' 
snow  and  sleet  in  winter,  finding  the  coast  rendered 
almost  inaccessible  by  the  vast  system  of  shoaling  which 
the  current  of  the  great  Yukon  has  effected,  passes  to 
the  interior,  whose  superficial  area  comprises  nearly 
five-sixths  of  the  landed  surface  of  the  Territory. 

*"  Here  is  an  immense  tract  reaching  from  Behring 
Strait,  in  a  succession  of  rolling,  ice-bound  moors  and 
low  mountain  ranges  for  700  miles,  an  unbroken  waste, 
to  the  boundary  line  of  British  America.  Then,  again, 
from  the  crests  at  the  head  of  Cook's  Inlet  and  the  flanks 
of  Mount  St.  Elias  northward  over  that  vast  area  of 
rugged  mountain  and  lonely  moor  to  the  east — nearly 
800  miles — ^is  a  great  expanse  of  country,  over  and 
through  which  not  much  intelligent  exploration  has 
been  undertaken.  A  few  traders  and  prospectors  have 
gone  up  the  Tennanah  and  over  the  old-established 
track  of  the  Yukon ;  others  have  passed  to  the  shores 
of  Kotzebue  Sound  overland  from  the  Koyukuk.    Dog- 


4U2  ALONG  ALASKA'S  GREAT  RIVER. 

eled  journeys  have  been  made  uy  these  same  people 
among  the  natives  of  the  Kuskokvhn  and  diose  of  the 
coast  between  Bristol  Bay  and  Norton  Sound.  But  the 
trader  as  he  travels  sees  nothing,  remembers  nothing, 
but  his  trade,  and  rarely  is  he  capable  of  giving  any 
definite  information  beyond  the  single  item  of  his  losses 
or  his  gains  through  the  regions  he  may  traverse.  We 
know,  however,  enough  to  say  now,  witliout  much  hesi- 
tation, that  this  great  extent  which  Ave  call  the  interior 
is  by  its  position  barred  out  from  occupation  and  settle- 
ment by  our  own  peoi^le,  and  the  climatic  conditions  are 
such  that  its  immense  area  will  remain  undisturbed  in 
the  possession  of  its  savage  occupants." 

The  fur  trade,  which  is  at  j^i't^^^^nt  the  most  impor- 
tant Alaskan  industry,  consists  of  two  general  branches, 
the  trade  in  land  furs  and  that  in  the  furs  of  marine 
animals.  The  former  has  not,  in  late  years,  decreased 
in  volume,  though  a  decline  has  been  noticed  in  the 
suj^ply  of  certain  sections.  The  land  furs  now  exported 
from  Alaska  consist  of  the  skins  of  bears,  brown  and 
black,  three  or  four  kinds  of  foxes,  including  the  very 
valuable  silver  and  blue  foxes,  otters,  martens,  beavers, 
minks,  muskrats,  lynxes,  w^olves  and  wolverines.  The 
sea-otter  and  the  fur-seal  sujiply  the  pelagic  furs,  the 
seal  being  by  far  the  more  Aiuiwrtant  of  the  two.  In- 
deed, at  present  the  fur-seal  constitutes  wholly  one- 
half  of  Alaska's  natural  wealth.  The  value  of  the  seal- 
skins shipped  from  the  Territory  and  sold  in  European 
markets  during  the  twenty-three  years  of  American 
occupancy  down  to  1800  aggregates  about  $33,000,000. 
In  the  same  period  the  value  of  other  furs  was 
116,000,000,  and  of   all    other    ex|:)orts    only    about 


iHE  PEOPLE  Ji.ND  THEIR  mDUSTRIES.       403 

<^14,000,()0'>.  The  canned  salmon  product,  wliicli  dates 
only  ti'om  1884,  has  amounted  to  nearly  $7,000,000, 
^nd  the  value  of  the  cod-fish  taken  since  1868  has  been 
*ul]y  13,000,000.  The  supply  of  fish  of  various  kinds 
la  Alaska  is  practically  inexhaustible,  but  the  stores 
laviiiad  upon  the  natives  of  that  country  by  bountiful 
nature  could  not  be  more  wastefully  used  than  they  are 
no^\.  Any  development  in  the  fishing  industry  must 
neccisarily  be  an  improvement,  causing  a  saving  in  the 
6up;:ly.  The  proj^ortion  of  Alaskan  fish  brought  into 
the  markets  of  the  civilized  world,  when  comj^ared  with 
the  consumj^tion  of  the  same  articles  by  the  natives,  is 
BO  very  small  that  it  barely  deserves  the  name  of  an 
industry  of  the  country.  The  business,  however,  shows 
a  decided  tendency  to  increase  in  magnitude,  and  with- 
in the  last  few  years  the  shipments  of  salted  salmon  in 
barrels  from  the  Kadiak- Aleutian  divisions  have  been 
steadily  increasing. 

Next  in  importance  to  furs  and  fish  are  to  be  ranked 
gold  and  silver.  The  first  gold  mines  of  real  imj^or- 
tance  were  0]iened  at  the  end  of  1880,  near  the  present 
settlement  of  Juneau.  At  present  there  are  three  or 
four  gold  producing  quartz  mines  which  ship  the  pre- 
cious metal  to  the  United  States,  the  largest  of  them  be- 
ing the  Treadwell  or  Paris  mine,  which  suj^plies  a  mill 
with  240  stamji^s.  There  are  also  paying  mines  in  the 
Yukon  region  which  have  produced  for  some  years 
past  gold  dust  to  the  value  of  from  |;40,000  to  $90,000 
u  year.  The  total  value  of  the  gold  found  m  Alaska 
iince  1867  is  about  $4,000,000,  but  probably  as  large  a 
t?!un  has  been  expended  in  the  same  time  in  prospect- 
'ng  and  openmg  and  equipping  the  mines.  The  annual 


404  ALONG  ALASKA'S  GREAT  KlVER. 

output  of  silver  is  insignificant,  amounting  to  onlj 
about  $3,000. 

Coal  has  been  discovered  in  various  parts  of  the 
Territory,  but  it  is  all  of  the  lignite  variety.  Only  ^ne 
of  the  veins  is  at  present  operated,  and  it  is  situated  ort 
Herendecn  Bay,  on  the  north  side  of  the  Alaska  pen- 
insula. Other  veins  near  Cape  Lisburne  are  utilizec] 
by  the  ships  which  visit  that  region  every  year,  but  are 
not  otherwise  systematically  worked.  Large  deposits 
of  copper  and  of  cinnabar  are  known  to  exist,  but  they 
are  far  inland  and  not  readily  accessible. 

Fourth  in  importance  among  the  resources  of  Alaska 
must  be  ranked  timber.  It  is  not  at  present,  however, 
an  actual  source  of  wealth,  since  its  exportation  is  j^ro- 
hibited  by  the  United  States  Government  and  even  tliG 
utilization  of  the  forests  for  local  use  for  lumber  and 
fuel  is  much  restricted. 

The  whaling  industry  is  conducted  by  New  Bedford 
and  San  Francisco  firms,  chiefly  north  of  Behring 
Strait,  but  cannot  jiroperly  be  included  among  the  re- 
sources of  Alaska.  During  the  season  of  1890  the  pro- 
duct of  this  industry  amounted  to  14,0(37  barrels  of  oil, 
22G,402  pounds  of  whalebone,  and  3,080  pounds  of 
walrus  ivory,  besides  considerable  quantities  of  beaver , 
bear  and  white  fox  furs. 

"  In  this  survey  of  the  wealth  and  resources  of  Alaski^ 
the  observer  is  struck,"  says  Mr.  Pctroff,  in  the  census 
report,  "  with  one  rather  discouraging  feature :  that  all 
these  vast  resources,  the  product!?!  of  land  and  sea,  are 
tiiken  out  of  the  country  without  leaving  any  eipiiva' 
lent  to  the  inhal)itants.  Tlie  chief  industries,  such  as 
daimon  canneries,  cod    fisheries,  mines,  and    the    iop 


TBE  I'EOPLE  AND  THEIR  INDUSTRIES.       405 

trade,  are  carried  on  with  labor  imported  into  Alaska 
and  taken  away  again,  thus  taking  out  of  tlie  country 
the  wages  earned3  Every  pound  of  subsistence  for  these 
laborers,  as  well  as  all  of  the  clothing  they  use,  is  car- 
ried by  them  into  Alaska.  The  shipping  of  Alaska, 
which  has  become  of  considerable  value,  is  also  carried 
on  wholly  by  non-residents  of  the  Territory,  and  this 
state  of  affairs  extends  even  to  the  important  tourists' 
travel  to  the  southeastern  district  of  Alaska.  Not  only 
the  passage-money,  but  the  whole  cost  of  subsistence  of 
these  tourists  during  their  stay  in  Alaska  goes  to  the 
California  owners  of  the  steamship  lines.  To  give  an 
idea  of  the  magnitude  of  this  traffic  it  is  only  necessary 
to  state  that  the  number  of  tourists'  tickets  sold  each 
season  exceeds  5,000,  each  ticket  representing  an  ex- 
penditure of  not  less  than  $100,  making  a  total  of 
1500,000. 

"The  insignificant  payments  for  furs  and  labor  to 
natives  are  absorbed  entirely  in  the  purchase  of  small 
quantities  of  food  and  raiment.  The  spectacle  of  so 
vast  a  tract  of  country  being  thus  drained  continually 
for  twenty-three  years  without  receiving  anything  to 
speak  of  in  return,  cannot  j)robably  be  equalled  in  any 
other  part  of  the  United  States  and  perhaps  of  the 
world.  At  the  same  time  the  only  prospect  for  a 
change  in  these  circumstances  by  immigration  and 
settlement  of  people  who  could  supply  the  demand  for 
labor  and  develop  the  industries  as  residents  of  the 
country  would  aj^pear  to  be  still  in  the  far-distant 
future." 

The  fur-gathering  industry  still  holds  tlie  foremost 
rank  in  Alaska,  and  the  most  important  of  its  products 


406  ALONG  ALASKA'S  GREAT  RIVER. 

are  the  pelts  of  tlie  sea-otter  and  the  fur-seah  >.«<  is 
among  the  Aleutian  Islands  that  these  animals  are 
chiefly  taken.  The  otter  is  widely  distributed  through- 
out the  archii^elago.  But  the  fur-seal  is  taken  almost  ex- 
clusively upon  the  Pribyloif  or  Fur-seal  Islands,  where 
they  resort  in  incredible  numbers.  The  taking  of  these 
interesting  animals  is  controlled  by  the  Alaska  Com- 
mercial Company,  which  has  enjoyed  a  monoj^ioly  of 
the  lucrative  trade  since  Alaska  came  into  the  possession 
of  this  country.  The  actual  work  of  killing  the  animals 
and  removing  the  skins  is  done  by  the  native  Aleutians. 
in  the  Company's  employ,  and  the  oj^eration,  albeit  san- 
guinary, is  highly  picturesque. 

In  former  times,  says  Mr.  Ivan  Petroff,  the  Aleutian 
hunters  prepared  themselves  for  sea-otter  exj^editions 
by  fasting,  bathing  and  other  ceremonieSo  The  sea- 
otter  w^as  believed  to  be  possessed  of  a  very  strong  aver- 
sion to  the  female  sex,  and  consequently  the  hunter  w^as 
obliged  to  separate  himself  from  his  wdfe  for  some  time 
prior  to  his  dei^arture,  and  also  to  prepare  the  garments 
he  was  to  wear,  or  at  least  to  wash  with  his  own  hands 
such  of  his  garments  as  had  been  made  by  women.  On 
his  return  from  a  successful  hunt  the  superstitious  Aleut 
of  former  times  would  destroy  the  garments  used  during 
his  expedition,  and  before  entering  his  hut  dress  himself 
anew  from  head  to  foot  in  clothing  prepared  by  his 
faithful  spouse  during  his  absence.  The  hunting  gar- 
ments were  then  thrown  into  the  sea.  One  old  man 
stated,  in  explanation  of  this  proceeding,  that  the  sea* 
otters  would  find  the  clothmg  and  come  to  the  conclusion 
that  their  late  persecutor  must  be  drowned,  and  tliat 
tliere  was  no  furtlicr  danger.      With  the  s]iread  of  the 


THE  PEOPLE  AND  THEIR  INDUSTRIES.       407 

Christian  religion  among  the  sea-otter  hunters  most  of 
these  su2)erstitiou3  ceremonies  were  abolished,  but  even 
at  the  present  day  tbe  sea-otter  hunter  occupies  a  prom- 
inent position  in  the  community  and  enjoys  great  social 
advantages.  Anything  he  may  want  which  is  not  in 
the  possession  of  his  own  family  will  be  at  once  supplied 
by  his  neighbors,  and  weeks,  and  even  months,  are 
spent  in  careful  preparation  of  arms,  canoes  and  imple- 
ments. 

The  mode  of  hunting  the  animal  has  not  essentially 
changed  since  the  earliest  times.  A  few  privileged 
white  men  located  in  the  district  of  Ounga  employ  fire- 
arms, but  the  great  body  of  Aleutian  hunters  still  retain 
the  spear  and  in  a  few  instances  the  bow  and  arrow. 
The  sea-otter  is  always  hunted  by  parties  of  from  four 
to  twenty  bidarkas,  each  manned  by  two  hunters.  From 
their  village  the  hunters  proceed  to  some  lonely  coast 
near  the  hunting-ground,  eitlier  in  tbeir  canoes  or  by 
schooners  and  sloops  belonging  to  the  trading  firms,  a 
few  women  generally  accompanying  the  party  to  do  the 
housework  in  the  camj:).  In  former  times,  of  course, 
this  was  not  the  case.  The  tents  of  the  partj  are 
pitclied  in  some  spot,  not  visible  from  the  sea,  and  the 
hunters  patiently  settle  down  to  await  the  first  favorable 
day,  only  a  smooth  sea  permitting  the  hunting  of  sea- 
otter  with  any  prospect  of  success.  In  the  inhospitable 
climate  of  Alaska  "^eeks  and  months  sometimes  pass  by 
before  the  patient  hunterb  are  enabled  to  try  their  skill. 
A  weatherwise  individual,  here  yclept  *' astronome,'* 
generally  accompanies  each  party,  giving  due  notice  of 
the  approach  of  favorable  weather  and  the  exact  time 
*riien  it  is  best  to  set  out,  and  few  Aleuts  are  bold 


408  ALONG  ALASKA'S  GREAT  RIVER, 

enough  to  begin  a  hunt  without  the  sanction  of  this  in- 
dividuaL  At  last  the  day  arrives,  and  after  a  brief 
prayer  the  hunters  embark  fully  equij^i^ed,  and  in  the 
best  of  spirits  exchange  jokes  and  banter  until  the  beach 
is  left  behind ;  then  silence  reigns,  the  peredovehik  or 
leader  assumes  command,  and  at  a  signal  from  him  the 
bidyrkas  start  out  in  a  semicircle  from  fifty  to  one  hun- 
dred yards  distant  from  each  other,  each  hunter  anx- 
iously scanning  the  surface  of  the  water,  at  the  same 
time  having  an  eye  uj)on  the  other  canoes.  The  sea- 
otter  comes  up  to  the  surface  to  breathe  about  once  in 
every  ten  minutes,  the  smooth,  glossy  head  remaining 
visible  but  a  few  seconds  each  time. 

As  soon  as  the  hunter  Sj^ies  an  otter  he  lifts  his  pad- 
dle as  a  signal  and  then  points  it  in  the  direction  taken 
by  the  animal,  and  the  scattered  bidarkas  at  once  close 
in  a  wide  circle  around  the  sjiot  indicated  by  the  fortu- 
nate discoverer.  If  the  animal  comes  up  within  this 
circle  the  hunters  simply  close  in,  gradually  beating  the 
water  with  their  hands  to  prevent  the  escape  of  the 
quarry ;  but  very  often  the  wary  animal  has  changed 
his  direction  after  diving,  and  the  whole  fleet  of  canoes 
is  obliged  to  change  course  frequently  before  the  final 
circle  is  formed.  As  soon  as  the  otter  comes  up  within 
spear's  throw  one  of  the  hunters  exerts  his  skill  and 
lodges  a  spear-head  in  tlie  animal,  which  innnediately 
dives.  An  inflated  bladder  is  attached  to  the  shaft, 
preventing  the  otter  from  diving  very  deep.  It  soon 
comes  up  again,  only  to  receive  a  number  of  other  mis- 
siles, the  intervals  between  attacks  becoming  shorter 
each  time,  until  exhaustion  forces  the  otter  to  remain 
QU  the  surface  and  receive  its  death  wound.     The  body 


TEE  PEOPLE  AND  THEIR  INDUSTRIES.       409 

of  the  animal  is  then  taken  into  one  of  tlie  bidarkas 
and  the  hunt  continues  if  the  weatlier  is  favorable.  On 
the  return  of  the  party  each  animal  killed  is  inspected 
by  the  chief  in  the  presence  of  all  the  hunters  and  its 
ownership  ascertained  by  the  spear-head  that  caused  the 
mortal  wound,  each  weapon  being  duly  marked.  The 
man  who  first  struck  the  otter  receives  from  two  to  ten 
dollars  from  the  owner.  The  skins  of  the  slain  animals 
are  at  once  removed,  labelled  and  classified  according 
to  quality  by  the  agents  of  the  trading  firms  and  care- 
fully stored  for  shipment.  It  frequently  happens  that 
a  whole  day  passes  by  without  a  single  sea-otter  being 
sighted,  but  the  Aleut  hunters  have  a  wonderful 
patience  and  do  not  leave  a  place  once  selected  without 
killing  some  sea-otters,  be  the  delay  ever  so  long.  There 
are  instances  where  hunting  parties  have  remained  on 
barren  islands  for  years,  subsisting  entirely  on  "  algse  " 
and  mussels  cast  from  the  sea.  On  the  principal  sea- 
otter  grounds  of  the  present  time,  the  Island  of  Sannakh 
and  the  neighborhood  of  Belkovsky,  the  hunting  par- 
ties seldom  remain  over  four  or  fiv"  months  without  se- 
curing sea-otters  in  sufficient  number  to  warrant  their 
return.  Single  hunters  have  sold  sea-otters  to  the  value 
of  eight  hundred  dollars  as  their  share  of  such  brief  ex- 
peditions, but  payment  is  not  made  until  the  return  of 
the  2^arty  to  their  home  station. 

As  soon  as  the  result  of  a  day's  hunt  has  been  ascer- 
tained, the  chief  or  leader  reminds  the  hunters  of  their 
duty  toward  the  Church,  and  with  their  unanimous  con- 
sent some  skin,  generally  of  a  small  animal,  is  selected 
as  a  donation  to  the  priest,  all  contributing  to  reimburse 
ih@  owner.    The  schools  also  receive  donations  of  thii 


410  ALONG  ALASKA'S  GREAT  RIVER. 

kind,  and  the  skins  thus  designated  are  labelled  accord- 
ingly and  turned  over  to  the  trading  firms,  who  ];)lace 
the  cash  value  at  the  disposal  of  the  priest.  Rivalry 
in  the  business  of  purchasing  sea-otter  skins  has  in- 
duced the  various  firms  to  send  agents  with  small  assort- 
ments of  goods  to  all  the  hunting-grounds,  as  an  in- 
ducement to  the  members  of  parties  to  squander  some 
of  their  earnings  in  advance. 

The  method  of  killing  the  sea-otter  is  virtually  the 
same  in  all  sections  frequented  by  it. 

The  killing  of  fur-seals  is  accom2)lished  entirely  on 
land,  and  has  been  reduced  almost  to  a  science  of  the 
greatest  dispatch  and  system.  The  able-bodied  Aleuts 
now  settled  upon  the  two  islands  of  Saint  Paul  and 
Saint  George  are,  by  the  terms  of  the  agreement  be- 
tween themselves  and  the  lessees,  the  only  individuals 
permitted  to  kill  and  skin  the  seals  for  the  annual  ship- 
ment as  long  as  they  are  able  to  jierform  the  labor 
efficiently  within  a  given  time.  For  this  labor  they  are 
remunerated  at  the  rate  of  forty  cents  j)er  animal. 
Life-long  practice  has  made  them  ex2:»ert  in  using  their 
huge  clubs  and  sharp  skinning-knives,  both  imple- 
ments being  manufactured  expressly  for  this  use. 
These  men  are  as  a  class  jn-oud  of  their  accomplish- 
ments as  sealers,  and  too  j^roud  to  bemcan  themselves 
in  doing  any  other  kind  of  work.  For  all  incidental 
labor,  such  as  building,  packing,  loading  and  unloading 
vessels,  etc.,  the  lessees  find  it  necessary  to  engage 
laborers  from  the  Aleutian  Islands,  these  latter  indi- 
viduals being  generally  paid  at  the  rate  of  one  dollar 
per  dmn. 

The  work  connected  with  the  killing  of  the  annual 


THE  PEOPLE  AND  THEIR  INDUSTRIES.       411 

quota  of  fur-seals  may  be  divided  into  two  distinct 
features,  the  separation  of  the  seals  of  a  certain  age  and 
&ize  from  the  main  body  and  their  removal  to  the  kill- 
ing-ground forming  the  preliminary  movements ;  the 
final  operation  consisting  of  another  selection  among 
the  select,  and  killing  and  skinning  the  same.  The 
driving  as  well  as  the  killing  cannot  be  done  in  every 
kind  of  weather,  a  damp,  cool,  cloudy  day  being  espe* 
cially  desirable  for  the  pur^Dose. 

As  it  is  the  habit  of  the  young  male  seals  up  to  the 
age  of  four  years  to  lie  uj)on  the  ground  back  of  the  so- 
called  rookeries  or  groups  of  families  that  line  the  sea- 
Bhore,  the  exj)erienced  natives  manage  to  crawl  m  be- 
tween the  families  and  the  "  bachelors,"  as  they  were 
named  by  the  Russians,  and  gradually  drive  them  inland 
in  divisions  of  from  2,000  to  3,000.  It  is  unsafe  to 
drive  the  seals  more  than  five  or  six  miles  during  any 
one  day,  as  they  easily  become  overheated  and  their 
Bkins  are  thereby  injured.  AVhen  night  comes  on  the 
driving  ceases,  and  sentries  are  posted  around  each 
division,  to  prevent  the  animals  from  straying  during 
the  night,  occasional  whistling  being  sufficient  to  keep 
them  together.  In  the  morning,  if  the  weather  be 
favorable,  the  drive  is  continued  until  the  killing-ground 
is  reached,  where  the  victims  are  allowed  to  rest  over 
night  under  guard,  and  finally,  as  early  as  j)ossible  in 
the  morning,  the  sealers  aj^pear  with  their  clubs,  when 
again  small  parties  of  twenty  to  thirty  seals  are  separated 
from  their  fellows,  surrounded  by  the  sealers,  and  the 
slaughter  begins.  Even  at  this  last  moment  another 
selection  is  made,  and  any  animal  appearing  to  the  eye 
of  the  exnerienced  Aleut  to  be  either  below"  or  above  the 


412  ALONG  ALASKA' ti  GREAT  RIVER. 

specified  age  is  dismissed  with  a  gentle  tuj)  of  the  club, 
aiid  allowed  to  go  on  its  way  to  the  shore,  rejoicing  at 
its  narrow  escape.  The  men  with  clubs  i)roceed  from 
one  ground  to  the  other,  immediately  followed  by  the 
men  with  knives,  who  stab  each  stunned  seal  to  the 
heart  to  insure  its  immediate  death.  These  men  are  in 
turn  followed  by  the  skinners,  who  with  astonishing 
rapidity  divest  the  carcasses  of  their  valuable  cover- 
ing, leaving,  however,  the  head  and  flippers  intact. 
Only  a  few  paces  behind  the  skinners  come  carts  drawn 
by  mules,  into  which  the  skins  are  rajiidly  thrown  and 
carried  away.  The  wives  and  daughters  of  the  sealers 
linger  around  the  rear  of  the  death-dealing  column, 
reaping  a  rich  harvest  of  blubber  which  they  carry 
away  on  their  heads,  the  luscious  oil  dripping  down  their 
faces  and  over  their  garments. 

The  skins,  yet  warm  from  the  body,  are  discharged 
into  capacious  salt-houses  and  salted  doAvn  for  the  time 
being  like  fish  in  bins.  This  treatment  is  continued  for 
some  time,  and  after  the  aiiplication  of  heavy  pressure 
they  are  finally  tied  into  bundles  of  two  each,  securely 
strapped,  and  then  shipped. 


GEOGRA°H!iCAL   FEATURES. 

According  to  the  terms  of  the  treaty  between  the 
United  States  and  Kussia,  the  boundaries  of  Alaska  are 
as  follows : 

"  Commencing  from  the  southernmost  point  of  the 
island  called  Prince  of  Wales  Island,  which  point  lies  in 
the  parallel  of  54°  40'  north  latitude,  and  between  the 
131°  and  133°  west  longitude  (meridian  of  Greenwich), 
the  said  line  shall  ascend  to  the  north  along  the  channel 
called  Portland  Channel,  as  far  as  the  point  of  the  con- 
tinent where  it  strikes  56°  north  latitude  ;  from  this  last 
mentioned  point,  the  line  of  demarcation  shall  follow  the 
summit  of  the  mountains  situated  parallel  to  the  coast  as 
far  as  the  point  of  intersection  of  the  141st  degree  of 
west  longitude  (of  the  same  meridian)  and  finally  from 
the  said  point  of  intersection  the  said  meridian  line  of 
the  141st  degree  in  its  prolongation  as  far  as  the  frozen 
ocean. 

"  AVith  reference  to  the  line  of  demarcation  laid  down 
in  the  preceding  article  it  is  understood  : 

"  1st.  That  the  island  called  Prince  of  Wales  Island 
shall  belong  wholly  to  Russia  (now  by  this  cession  to 
the  United  States). 

"  2d.  That  whenever  the  summit  of  the  mountains 
which  extend  in  a  direction  parallel  to  the  coast  from 
the  56th  degree  of  north  latitude  to  the  point  of  inter- 
section of  the  141st  degree  of  west  longitude  shall  prove 
to  be  at  the  distance  of  more  than  ten  marine  leagues 


414  ALONG  ALASKA  >^  GREAT  RIVER. 

froJii  the  uceaii,  the  limit  between  the  British  possesssion 
aiitl  the  line  of  coast  which  is  to  belong  to  liussia  as 
above  mentioned  (that  is  to  say,  the  limit  to  the  posses- 
sions ceded  by  this  convention"),  shall  be  formed  by  a 
line  parallel  to  tne  winding  ot  the  coast,  and  which 
shall  never  exceed  the  distance  of  ten  marine  leairues 
therefrom." 

The  boundry,  in  1825,  when  this  description  was 
made,  was  a  theoretical  one  based  on  the  charts  placed 
before  the  negotiators,  which  they  doubtless  assumed 
to  be  a  substantially  correct  expression  of  geograj)hical 
facts.  The  country  through  which  the  line  passes  was 
then  substantially  unexj^lored. 

Much  survey  work  has  been  done  in  recent  years,  with 
the  object  of  determining  more  accurately  the  boundary 
between  Alaska  and  the  British  possessions  in  North 
America  ;  but  the  task  is  not  yet  complete.  The  general 
outlines  of  the  country,  however,  are  familiar  to  all^  and 
recent  maps  indicate  its  boundaries  on  all  sides  with 
substantial  accuracy.  The  whole  territory  may  be 
roughly  divided  into  six  parts,  as  follows : 

1.  The  Arctic  division,  containing  125,245  square 
miles,  and  comprising  all  that  2:)ortion  of  the  North 
American  continent  between  the  one  hundred  and  forty- 
first  meridian  in  the  east  and  Cape  Prince  of  Wales,  or 
Behriug  Strait,  in  the  w^est,  the  Arctic  Ocean  in  the  north, 
and  having  for  its  southern  boundary  a  line  indicating 
the  watershed  between  the  Yukon  Kiver  system  and 
the  streams  emptying  into  the  Arctic  and  impinging 
upon  the  coast  of  Beliring  Sea  just  north  of  Port 
Clarence. 

2.  The  Yukon  division,  containing  176,715  squar© 


GEOGRAPHICAL  FEATURES.  415 

miles,  and  comprising  the  valley  of  the  Yukon  River  as 
far  as  it  lies  within  our  boundaries  and  its  tributaries 
from  the  north  and  south.  This  division  is  bounded  by 
the  Arctic  division  in  the  north,  the  one  hundred  forty- 
first  meridian  in  the  east,  and  Behring  Sea  in  the  west. 
The  southern  boundary  lies  along  a  line  indicating  the 
watershed  between  the  Yukon  and  the  Kuskokvim, 
Sushetno,  and  Copper  Rivers,  and  runs  from  the  above- 
mentioned  meridian  in  the  east  to  the  coast  of  Behring 
Sea,  in  the  vicinity  of  Hazen  Bay,  in  the  west.  The 
island  of  St.  Lawrence,  in  Behring  Sea,  is  included  in 
thiB  division. 

3.  The  Kuskokvim  division,  containing  114,975 
square  miles,  bounded  on  the  north  by  the  Yukon  divi- 
sion, and  comprising  the  valleys  of  the  Kuskokvim,  the 
Togiak,  and  the  Nushegak  Rivers,  and  the  intervening 
system  of  lakes.  The  eastern  boundary  of  this  division 
is  a  line  running  along  the  main  Alaskan  range  of 
mountains  from  the  divide  between  the  Kuskokvim  and 
Tennanah  Rivers  down  to  the  low,  narrow  isthmus  di- 
viding Moller  Bay  from  Zakharof  Bay,  on  the  Alaska 
peninsula.  Behring  Sea  washes  the  whole  west  and 
south  coasts  of  this  division,  which  also  includes  Nuni- 
vak  Island. 

4.  The  Aleutian  division,  containing  14,610  square 
miles,  and  comprising  the  Alaska  peninsula  westward 
of  the  isthmus  between  Moller  and  Zakharof  Bays  and 
the  whole  chain  of  islands  from  the  Shumagin  group  in 
the  east  to  Attoo  in  the  west,  including  also  the  Pribylof 
or  fur-seal  islands. 

5.  The  Kadiak  division,  containing  70,884  square 
miles,  and  comprising  the  south  coast  of  the  Aliciska 


4 1 0  ALONG  ALASKA'S  GREA T  RIVER. 

peuinsula  down  to  Zakliarof  Bay,  with  the  adjacent 
islands,  the  Kadiak  group  of  ishinds,  the  islands  and 
coasts  of  Cook's  Inlet,  the  Kenai  peninsula,  and  Prince 
William  Sound,  with  the  rivers  running  into  them.  The 
main  Alaskan  range  bounds  this  division  in  the  north 
and  west.  Its  eastern  limit  is  the  one  hundred  and 
forty-first  meridian,  which  intersects  the  coast-line 
in  the  vicinity  of  Mount  St.  Elias,  while  the  south 
shores  of  the  division  are  washed  by  that  section  of  the 
North  Pacific  named  the  Gulf  of  Alaska. 

6.  The  southeastern  division,  containing  28,980 
square  miles,  and  comprising  the  coast  from  Mount  St. 
Elias  in  the  north  to  Portland  Canal,  in  latitude  54° 
40',  in  the  south,  together  with  the  islands  of  the  Alex- 
ander Archipelago  between  Cross  Sound  and  Cape  Fox. 
The  eastern  boundary  of  this  division  is  the  rather  in- 
definite line  established  by  the  Anglo-Russian 
and  Pussian-American  treaties  of  1824  and  1825 
respectively,  following  the  summits  of  a  chain  of  mouuv 
tains  supposed  to  run  parallel  with  the  coast  at  a  dis- 
tance not  greater  than  three  marine  leagues  from  the 
sea  between  the  head  of  Portland  Canal  and  Mount 
St.  Elias. 

The  Arctic  division  is  situated  almost  entirely  above 
the  Arctic  circle  and  is  known  to  explorers  only  from 
observations  made  along  the  seacoast.  The  interior 
consists  doubtless  of  frozen  ])lains  and  low  raages  of 
iiills,  intersected  by  a  few  shallow  and  sluggish  streams. 
The  only  rivers  known  to  emerge  from  this  part  of 
Alaska  are  the  Colville,  the  Kok,  the  Inland  or  Noatak, 
the  Kooak,  the  Selawik  and  the  Buckland.  There  are 
many  villages  scattered  along  the  coast  and  otliere  are 


GEOGRAPHICAL  FEATURES,  417 

reported  to  exist  further  up  on  all  these  rivers.  The 
coast  settlements  are  visited  every  year  by  many  vessels 
engaged  in  whaling,  hunting  and  trading.  Their  in- 
habitants possess  great  commercial  genius  and  energy, 
and 'carry  on  an  extensive  traffic  with  the  natives  of  the 
Asian  coast,  their  common  trading-ground  being  at 
Behring  Strait. 

The  only  mineral  of  any  value  that  is  found  on  this 
coast  is  coal,  of  which  there  are  several  good  veins  at 
Cape  Lisburne.  The  chief  attraction  for  the  navigators 
who  visit  the  coast  are  furs,  oil  and  walrus  ivory.  The 
whaling  industry  is  already  beginning  to  decline  here 
as  it  has  done  in  every  other  region  of  the  world. 
Many  seals  are  found  here  and  polar  bears'  are  numer- 
ous. A  few  reindeer  are  found  on  the  coast  and  moose 
and  mountain  sheep  are  said  to  be  numerous  in  the  in- 
terior. Muskrats  and  squirrels  abound  everywhere  and 
their  skins  are  offered  for  sale  in  large  quantities. 
Foxes  also  are  plentiful,  especially  the  white  variety, 
and  their  skins  are  much  sought  for  by  the  American 
and  European  markets.  Aquatic  birds  of  all  kinds  are 
found  in  countless  hosts.  The  only  fish  of  value  is  the 
galmon. 

About  thirty  villages  are  known  in  this  region,  their 
total  population  being  a  little  over  3,000. 

The  Yukon  division  is  the  largest  and  in  many  re- 
eiDects  most  important  of  all.  As  this  volume  is  so 
largely  devoted  to  a  description  of  the  great  river  and 
the  country  it  traverses  little  need  be  said  regarding  it 
here.  Numerous  trading  posts  have  been  established 
and  the  waters  of  the  river  are  plied  by  steamboats. 
Ko  mineral  deposits  in  large  paying  quantities  have  yet 


418  ALONG  ALASKA'S  GREAT  RIVER, 

been  discovered,  but  it  is  believed  that  important  gold 
mines  Avill  yet  be  found.  The  river  abounds  in  fish  and 
the  forests  which  border  it  in  game.  High  as  the  lati- 
tude is  the  summers  are  very  warm  and  the  vegetable 
growths  of  the  country  are  luxuriant.  The  coast  line 
of  this  division  is  ^particularly  dreary.  It  is  inhabited 
by  a  hardy  race  of  seal  and  w^alrus  hunters,  wdio  occuj^y 
numerous  small  villages.  At  Port  Clarence,  just  south 
of  Cape  Prince  of  Wales,  three  or  four  villages  are 
clustered  around  a  fine  harbor.  King's  Island  or  Ouki- 
vok  is  a  small,  high  island,  surrounded  by  almost  per- 
pendicular cliffs  of  basalt.  On  it  is  a  village  composed 
of  about  forty  houses,  which  are  simple  excavations  in 
the  side  of  the  cliffs.  The  inhabitants  live  almost  en- 
tirely by  walrus  and  seal  hunting.  On  the  shores  of 
Golovin  Sound  small  deposits  of  lead  and  silver  have 
been  found.  The  most  important  point  on  the  coast  is 
St.  Michael,  where  there  are  several  trading  agencies. 
The  Island  of  St.  Lawrence  belongs  properly  to  this  di- 
vision. It  had  originally  a  population  of  about  1,000,  but 
famine  and  disease  have  diminished  it  to  one-half  that 
number.  The  people  are  Asiatic  Esquimaux.  There 
are  in  all  this  division  of  Alaska  about  seventy-five 
known  settlements,  with  a  total  population  of  nearly 
7,000,  of  whom  perhaps  about  twenty-five  are  white, 
2,500  Athabaskan  and  the  rest  Esquimaux. 

The  Kuskokvim  division  is,  on  the  whole,  poor  in 
such  natural  products  as  white  men  desire,  and  it  has 
therefore  been  little  visited.  It  contains  a  few  mineral 
deposits,  however,  including  cinnabar,  antimony  and 
silver.  Game  and  fur  bearing  animals  are  not  as  numer- 
ous as  in  other  parts  of  Alaska,  but  there  are  many 


GEOGRAPHICAL  FEATURES.  419 

seals  in  tlie  sea  and  river,  and  minks  and  foxes  are  quite 
numerous.  Many  salmon  are  also  found  in  the  river 
and  they  form  a  leading  article  of  food  for  the  natives. 
There  are  nearly  a  hundred  villages  in  this  division 
with  about  9,000  inhabitants,  nearly  all  of  them  being 
Esquimaux. 

The  Aleutian  division  comprises  the  western  part  of 
the  Alaska  peninsula  and  the  long  range  of  islands  ex- 
tending toward  the  Asiatic  coast.  These  islands  appear 
to  be  merely  a  continuation  of  the  Alaskan  range  of 
mountains.  Many  of  them  contain  volcanic  peaks,  some 
of  which  are  still  active,  and  all  the  islands  are  moun- 
tainous. The  soil  is  altogether  treeless  save  for  some 
dwarf  willows,  but  there  is  a  luxuriant  growth  of  grass. 
On  this  account  it  was  once  thought  that  cattle  could 
be  successfully  raised  here,  but  the  long  and  stormy 
winters  made  the  experiment  a  failure.  The  people  of 
these  islands  are  doubtless  of  Esquimau  origin,  al- 
though distinct  in  language  and  in  habits  from  the 
remainder  of  that  race.  Their  twenty-five  or  thirty 
villages  are  inhabited  by  about  2,500  people,  perhaps 
100  of  the  number  being  white.  Their  principal  in- 
dustry consists  in  fishing  and  taking  seals,  sea-otters 
and  other  marine  animals. 

The  Kadiak  division  comprises  the  southern  side  of 
the  Alaska  peninsula,  numerous  adjacent  islands  and 
the  coast  of  the  mainland  eastward  to  Mount  St.  Elias. 
Its  inhabitants  are  of  Esquimau  stock  and  resemble 
greatly  those  of  the  Kuskokvim  division.  The  coast 
is  frequented  by  great  numbers  of  walrus,  which  animal 
provides  the  inhabitants  with  food,  material  for  their 
canoes  and  ivory,  which  is  used  for  money  and  as  an 


420  ALONG  ALASKA'S  GREAT  RIVER. 

object  of  trade.  Many  whales  are  also  taken  here.  On 
the  land  there  are  numerous  reindeer,  brown  bears  and 
foxes,  otters  and  minks.  The  island  of  Kadiak  has  for 
a  century  and  a  quarter  been  one  of  the  most  important 
portions  of  this  division  of  Alaska.  It  was  here  that 
some  of  the  earliest  Kussian  settlements  were  made,  and 
the  population  at  the  present  time  is  considerable. 
There  are  several  villages  devoted  almost  entirely  to 
the  building  of  shi2:)s  and  boats. 

North  of  the  Kadiak  group  is  the  great  estuary 
known  as  Cook's  Inlet,  which  was  first  visited  by  the 
Kussian  traders  a  hundred  years  ago  and  was  the  scene 
of  many  desj^erate  conflicts  between  rival  settlers  as 
well  as  between  the  Russians  and  the  natives.  The 
natives  here  are  almost  giants  in  size  and  are  strong, 
active  and  warlike.  Their  houses  are  superior  to  those 
of  the  Esquimaux,  being  constructed  above  ground  of 
logs  and  bark.  They  are  expert  fishermen,  and  the 
waters  in  this  region  abound  in  salmon  and  other  fish, 
and  the  land  in  huge  bears,  moose,  mountain  sheep, 
wolves  and  numerous  smaller  animals,  while  geese  and 
ducks  and  other  wild  birds  are  found  by  the  million. 
Timber  exists  here  in  great  abundance,  especially  in  the 
valley  of  the  Copper  River.  There  are  about  fifty  vil- 
lages in  the  Kadiak  division  with  a  population  of  4,500. 

The  Southeastern  division  consists  of  the  narrow 
strip  of  coast-land  from  Mount  St.  Elias  southward  to 
Portland  Canal.  It  is  densely  wooded  and  exceediAgly 
mountainous.  The  coast  is  deeply  indented  with  bays 
and  sheltered  by  islands.  The  principal  trees  are 
spruce  and  yellow  cedar.  On  many  of  the  islands  of 
the  Alexander  Archipelago  coal  has  been  discovered. 


GEO  GRAPHICAL  FEATURES.  421 

Copper  and  gold  have  also  been  found.  The  fur  trade 
is  not  now  nearly  as  valuable  as  in  former  years,  al- 
though it  is  still  large  and  j^i'ofitable.  The  waters 
swarm  with  salmon,  halibut,  herring  and  other  fish. 
The  climate  is  not  nearly  as  cold  as  might  be  expected 
in  this  latitude,  but  the  rainfall  is  very  heavy,  an 
average  of  250  days  in  the  year  being  stormy.  The 
fifty  or  more  villages  contain  a  total  23023ulation  of  nearly 
8,000,  including  about  300  whites. 

We  know,  says  Dr.  Grewgink,  the  eminent  Kussian 
scientist,  of  no  more  extensive  theatre  of  volcanic  ac- 
tivity than  the  Aleutian  Islands,  the  Alaska  peninsula, 
and  the  west  coast  of  Cook's  Inlet.  Here  we  have  con- 
fined within  the  limits  of  a  single  century  all  the  known 
phenomena  of  this  kind :  the  elevation  of  mountain 
chains  and  islands,  the  silking  of  extensive  tracts  of 
the  earth's  surface,  earthquakes,  eruptions  of  lava,  ashes 
and  mud,  the  hot  springs  and  exhalations  of  steam  and 
sulphuric  gases.  Not  only  does  the  geological  forma- 
tion of  most  of  the  islands  and  a  j)ortion  of  the  conti- 
nent point  to  volcanic  origin  or  elevation,  but  w^e  have 
definite  information  of  volcanic  activity  on  twenty-five 
of  the  Aleutian  Islands.  On  these  islands  forty-eight 
craters  have  been  enumerated  by  Veniaminof  and  other 
conscientious  observers,  and  in  addition  to  these  we  have 
on  the  Alaska  peninsula  four  volcanoes,  two  on  Cook's 
Inlet,  one  on  Prince  William  Sound,  one  on  Copj^er 
River,  and  one  in  the  vicinity  of  Sitka  (Mount  Edge- 
combe) ;  three  other  peaks  situated  between  Edgecombe 
and  the  Copper  Kiver  have  not  been  definitely  ascer- 
tained to  be  volcanic.  The  distance  from  the  Wrange'il 
volcano,  in  the  vicinity  of  Copper  Kiver,  to  the  SitKan 


422  ALONG  ALASKA'S  GREAT  EI VER, 

Island  is  1,505  nautical  miles.  We  have  every  reason 
to  believe  that  the  Near  Islands  (the  westernmost  of  tlie 
Aleutian  group)  are  also  extinct  craters ;  and  thus  we 
find  one  continuous  chain  of  volcanoes  from  Wrangell 
to  the  Commander  Islands  (Behring  and  Copper), 
pointing  to  the  existence  of  a  subterranean  channel  of 
lava  finding  its  outlet  or  breathing-hole  through  the 
craters  of  this  region.  The  nearest  volcanoes  to  the 
south  of  this  line  are  Mount  Baker  on  the  American 
continent,  in  latitude  48°  48',  and  the  craters  of  the 
Kurile  chain  of  islands  on  the  coast  of  Asia.  That  a 
subterranean  connection  exists  between  this  long  line  of 
craters  is  indicated  by  the  fact  that  whenever  volcani/^, 
activity  grows  slack  in  one  section  of  the  chain  it  in- 
creases in  violence  at  some  other  point,  an  observatioi5 
which  has  been  confirmed  by  all  observers. 

From  all  information  on  the  subject  at  our  disposal  it 
appears  that  the  craters  of  Mount  Fairweather,  Cryllon, 
and  Edgecombe,  and  JNIount  Calder  (Prince  of  Wales 
Island),  have  not  been  active  since  the  middle  of  the 
last  century,  and  as  the  universal  law  of  volcanic  ac- 
tivity seems  to  place  the  frequency  of  eruptions  in  an 
inverse  ratio  to  the  height  of  the  volcanoes,  we  might 
reasonably  exj)ect  that  the  season  of  rest  for  these 
craters  will  be  a  prolonged  one ;  but  how  terrible  and 
devastating  must  be  the  awakening  of  the  sleeping 
furnaces  when  it  occurs.  With  regard  to  Mount  St. 
Elias,  we  have  many  authentic  data  as  to  its  volcanic 
nature.  Belcher  and  Wrangell  consider  that  the  black 
ridges  descending  from  the  summits  of  the  mountain^v 
au'j  the  fact  that  the  glaciers  on  Copper  River  exhihif 
a  covering  of  vegetation,  as  proof  of  the  volcanic  char> 


QEOQUAFHICAL  FEATURES.  423 

acter  of  the  mountain.  The  first  phenomena  may  resi 
entirely  upon  an  optic  clekision,  as  it  is  not  at  all  certain 
that  the  black  streaks  consist  of  lava  or  ashes,  while  the 
appearance  of  vegetation  on  the  surface  of  glaciers  on 
Copper  River  is  very  probably  due  to  the  fall  of  vol- 
canic ashes ;  the  latter  phenomenon  may  be  traced  as 
easily  and  with  far  more  probability  to  the  Wrangell 
volcano. 

One  of  the  most  impressive  physical  features  of  the 
whole  Territory  is  the  stuj^endous  glacier  at  Muir  Inlet. 
This  ice-field,  says  a  recent  writer,  enters  the  sea 
with  a  front  two  or  three  hundred  feet  above  the  water 
and  a  mile  wide.  Fancy  a  wall  of  blue  ice,  splintered 
into  columns,  spires  and  huge  crystal  masses,  with 
grottoes,  crevices  and  recesses  higher  than  Bunker  Hill 
Monument  and  a  mile  in  width  !  It  is  a  sjjectacle  that 
is  strangely  beautiful  in  its  variety  of  form  and  depth 
of  color,  and  at  the  same  time  awful  in  its  grandeur. 
And  not  alone  is  the  sight  awe-inspiring.  The  ice- 
mountain  is  almost  constantly  breaking  to  j^ieces  with 
sounds  that  resemble  the  discharge  of  heavy  guns  or 
the  reverberations  of  thunder.  At  times  an  almost 
deafening  rei^ort  is  heard,  or  a  succession  of  them,  like 
the  belching  of  a  whole  park  of  artillery,  when  no  out- 
ward effect  is  seen.  It  is  the  breaking  aj^art  of  great 
masses  of  ice  within  the  glacier.  Then  some  huge  berg 
topples  over  with  a  roar  and  gigantic  splash  that  may 
be  heard  several  miles,  the  waters  being  thrown  aloft 
like  smoke.  A  great  j^innacle  of  ice  is  seen  bobbing 
about  in  wicked  fashion,  perchance  turning  a  somersault 
in  the  flood  before  it  settles  down  to  battle  for  life  with 
the  sun  and  the  elements  on  its  seaward  cruise.      The 


424  ALONG  ALASKA'S  GREAT  RIVER. 

waves  created  by  all  this  terrible  commotion  even  roct 
tlie  steamer  and  wash  the  shores  miles  away.  There  is 
scarcely  five  minutes  in  the  whole  day  or  night  without 
some  exhibition  of  this  kind.  There  are  mountains 
each  side  of  the  glacier,  the  one  upon  the  right,  or  soutli 
shore,  being  the  highest.  High  Uj)  on  the  bare  walls 
are  seen  the  scoriated  and  polished  surfaces  produced 
by  glacial  action.  The  present  glacier  is  retrograding 
quite  rajoidly,  as  may  be  seen  by  many  evidences  of  its 
former  extent,  as  well  as  by  the  concurrent  testimony 
of  earlier  visitors.  On  either  side  is  a  moraine  half  a 
mile  in  width,  furrowed  and  slashed  by  old  glacial 
streams  which  have  given  place  in  turn  to  others  higher 
up  the  defile  as  the  glacier  recedes.  These  moraines 
are  com^DOsed  of  earth  and  coarse  gravel,  wdth  oc- 
casional large  boulders.  On  the  north  side  the  ma- 
terial is  more  of  a  clayey  sort,  at  least  in  part,  and  the 
stumps  of  an  ancient  forest  have  been  uncovered  by  the 
action  of  a  glacial  river,  or  overwhelmed  by  the  icy 
flood.  Some  scientists  claim  these  forests  are  in  reality 
pre-glacial,  and  many  thousands  of  years  old.  The  in- 
terior of  the  great  moraines  is  yet  frozen,  and  at  the 
head  of  one  of  the  little  ravines  formed  by  former 
glacial  river  discharges,  a  little  stream  still  trickles 
forth  from  a  diminutive  ice  cavern.  Notwitlistanding 
the  contiguity  of  the  ice  itself,  and  the  generally  frigid 
surroundings,  blue-bells  and  other  flowers  bloom  on 
the  moraine.  In  the  centre  of  the  glacier,  some  two 
miles  from  its  snout,  is  a  rocky  island,  the  top  of  some 
ancient  j^eak  the  great  mill  of  ice  has  not  yet  ground 
down. 
It  is  interesting  to  see  bow  the  massive  (Stream  of  ice 


QEOGRAPHICAL  FEATURES.  425 

conforms  itself  to  its  shores,  separating  above  the  obstacle 
aad  ryanitiug  below.  On  aiDX^roaching  or  departing 
from  Muir  Inlet,  the  voyager  may  look  back  upon  this 
literal  sea  of  ice  and  follow  its  streams  up  to  the  snow- 
fields  of  the  AVhite  Mountains,  which  form  the  back- 
bone of  the  peninsula  between  Glacier  Bay  and  Lynn 
Canal.  The  following  facts  relating  to  the  Muir  glacier, 
its  measurement  and  movement,  are  derived  wholly  from 
Professor  Wright's  notes.  Roughly  speaking,  the  Muir 
glacier  may  be  said  to  occupy  an  amj)hitheatre  which  has 
the  dimensions  of  about  twenty-five  miles  from  north  to 
south,  and  thirty  miles  from  east  to  west.  The  opening 
of  this  amphitheatre  at  Muir  Inlet  is  toward  the  south 
southeast.  It  is  two  miles  across  from  the  shoulder  of 
one  mountain  to  the  other  at  the  outlet.  Into  the  amphi- 
theatre pour  nine  glaciers,  and  the  sub-branches  that  are 
visible  make  the  affluents  more  than  twenty  in  number. 
Four  of  the  main  branches  come  iu  from  the  east,  but 
these  have  already  spent  their  force  on  reaching  the 
focus  of  the  amphitheatre.  The  first  tributary  from  the 
southwest  also  practically  loses  its  force  before  reaching 
the  main  current.  The  main  flow  is  from  two  branches 
coming  from  the  northwest  and  two  from  the  north. 
The  motion  is  here  much  more  rapid.  Observations 
made  uj^on  three  portions  of  the  main  glacier,  re- 
spectively 300,  1,000  and  1,500  yards  from  the  front, 
showed  the  movement  to  be  135  feet  at  the  first  point, 
65  at  the  second  and  75  at  the  third,  ^qv  day.  The 
summit  of  the  lower  point  was  a  little  over  300  feet 
above  the  water,  the  second  400  feet  and  the  third  con- 
siderably more,  probably  500  feet.  The  motion  rapidly 
decreased  on  approaching  the  medial  moraines  brought 


426  ALONG  ALASKA'S  GREAT  RIVER, 

down  by  the  branches  from  tht  east.  Along  a  line 
moving  parallel  with  that  of  the  greatest  motion, 
and  half  a  dozen  miles  east  from  it,  the  rate  ob- 
served at  two  points  was  about  10  feet  per  day. 
Thus  we  get  an  average  daily  motion  in  the  main 
channel  of  the  ice  flow,  near  its  mouth,  of  about 
40  feet  across  a  section  of  one  mile.  The  height  of  the 
ice  above  the  water  in  front,  at  the  extreme  point, 
was  found  to  be  226  feet.  Back  a  few  hundred  feet  the 
height  is  a  little  over  300  feet,  and  at  a  quarter  of  a 
mile  400  feet.  A  quarter  of  a  mile  out  in  front  of  the 
glacier  the  water  is  85  fathoms,  or  510  feet  deep.  Thus 
Professor  Wright  estimates  that  a  body  of  ice  735  feet 
deep,  5,000  feet  wide  and  1,200  feet  long  passed  out  into 
the  bay  in  the  thirty  days  he  was  there,  this  movement 
and  discharge  taking  place  at  the  rate  of  149,000,000 
cubic  feet  per  day.  He  says  that  after  the  fall  of  a  large 
mass  of  ice  from  the  glacier  into  the  bay,  the  beach  near 
his  cam})  two  and  one-half  miles  distant  from  the  glaciers, 
would  be  wrapped  in  foam  by  the  waves.  One  of  many 
large  masses  he  saw  floating  about  projected  some  00 
feet  out  of  water,  and  was  some  400  feet  square.  Esti- 
mating the  general  height  of  the  berg  above  the  water 
to  be  30  feet,  and  its  total  depth  250  feet,  the  contents 
of  the  mass  would  be  40,000,000  cubic  feet. 


-*%« 


?«  t-^fliW*. 

— ,-  j^   J-,  „  1 

ii 

DATE  DUE 

1 

5  1981    1 

REC'D  01 

;c  im 

1 

hL 

iG  2  3.198 

j 

'0 

ffiCO/i, 

'S   s  jggj 

RP|(  ^rp 

1  r,  1Q0C 

M  A  V  /    _i      1 

»  -inrin 

NOV  1  { 

)  1988 

1 

GAYLORD 

PRINTED  IN  U    S    A. 

3   1970  00474  995^ 


UC  SOUTHERN  REGIONAL  LIBRARY  FACILITY 


AA      000  303  780    1 


liiiilB^^^^ 


lir 

iiili 


m 


i: 


